Ashikabi of the Leaf
by MickDunD
Summary: When the Sekirei are unleashed on the Shinobi World, one thing is for certain: nothing will ever be the same. Follow Naruto as he strives to achieve his dream, aided by a flock of super-powered women, and save the world from the growing threat of Akatsuki. Narutoxharem.
1. Chapter 1

Chapter 1:

 **Wassup my ninjas? MickDunD back with another totally awesome story for y'all. Sekirei and Naruto, a great pairing, but as far as I can tell, only one other story exists using this plot format. So please tell me if I'm doing a good job and let me know if you think stuff and things could be better.**

 **Also, huge shout-out to my beta and fellow writer Chidori Eiso. Make sure to check out his story** ** _Thunder Maidens_** **as well for some more Naruto-Sekirei action,**

 **Enjoy!**

Cold…so cold.

All she remembered was the feeling of the cold liquid gel surrounding her body inside the capsule, just faintly aware of the outside world through the yellow tinted glass. The cold was everywhere and she couldn't even move a muscle to warm herself up.

She had felt the ship tremble a while ago…but how long exactly she could not tell. She had no perception of time in the capsule…she didn't even remember if she had ever seen the sun before. Soon, sounds began to filter into the hallways of the ship, echoes bouncing across the metallic surfaces and reverberating through the gel. Her ears could faintly make out individual tones and voices, but the language itself was a complete mystery to her.

She heard footsteps rapidly approaching the doorway to the Cradle. The sound of frantic and panicked breathing echoed through the gel as he pounded on the door, screaming in his language. Then she heard something else…a sound like a hurricane compressed into a ball.

"Rasengan!"

The door to the Cradle exploded, carrying with it the body of a man dressed in a strange red uniform. Standing over him was another man…but this one felt different.

He stood tall, taller than her, and was dressed in a blue shirt and pants with a strange green vest covering his chest. His hair was blonde with two long bangs framing his face. His skin was tanned and his blue eyes sparkled despite the act of violence he had committed…or perhaps that was the gel distorting her vision. He had something gripped in his hand as well…a tri-pronged knife of some sort.

The man looked up and noticed her, eyes widening as she locked her gaze with his. Slowly, he walked close to her and laid his hand on the capsule's surface. His lips tugged into a smile and he spoke a single word.

"Hello."

 **Twenty Years Later**

It was a warm and sunny day in the Land of Fire. The weather had been particularly good the last couple of days, leading to a lot of people walking around the Village Hidden in the Leaves, chatting loudly, and in some cases bragging about their results on the Shinobi Academy's Genin Examination. All around the village, people were celebrating wildly with their children, who were now sporting brand new shinobi forehead protectors. It was an especially good sign for the village as a whole, as they had just had the largest graduating class since the time of the Nidaime Hokage. This generous feeling of goodwill and excitement blanketed the entire village. Well…almost all of it.

A teenaged boy sat alone on a bench outside the Academy. He was dressed in black shirt with a bright orange Konoha symbol emblazoned on the back as well as a pair of orange shorts that ended below his knees, finished off by a pair of shinobi sandals. His bright blonde hair was styled spiky, showing off his tanned face with three whisker marks on his cheeks. His bright blue eyes were downcast though, staring at his feet as if he was ashamed.

"Naruto," a hand landed on his shoulder from behind.

He looked up and quickly threw on a smile. "Oh. Hey Iruka-sensei," he said. "Are you all done for the day?"

His surrogate older-brother figure gave a slight smile in return. "Just about," he said. "I had to come and check up on you…see how you were doing."

"Eh, I am kinda bummed out that I didn't make it this year," he said. "But I swear next time will be different! I'm totally gonna be a genin next year, dattebayo!"

Iruka chuckled and ruffled the boy's hair. "I know you will," he smiled. "Come on, let's get some ramen. My treat."

"Yosh! Let's go!" the blonde whooped, grabbing the scarred chunin and dragging him down the road.

 **XXX**

Hiruzen Sarutobi, God of the Shinobi, and Sandaime Hokage of the Village Hidden in the Leaves, sighed in relief for the first time that day. Graduation day was a hectic matter even for the Hokage. He'd had to deal with a few complaints from parents when their child did poorly as well as a 'recommendation' by the Civilian Council for Sasuke Uchiha to be given leniency on his grades. Other than that it was the blasted shinobi registration paperwork that had kept him bogged down at his desk for the past six hours.

He placed the last piece of paper down and leaned back in his chair, his right hand retrieving his favorite pipe from his drawer and lighting it with a quick burst of fire chakra. He took a heavy drag on the sweet tobacco he'd imported from Iwa. He and Onoki might not see eye-to-eye on politics and village relations, but old men like them shared a few common interests. His was Iwa's heavenly tobacco and Icha-Icha. Onoki enjoyed Konoha's strong plum sake and Icha-Icha. Speaking of which…

He glanced around the room a few times before pulling his newest issue of Icha-Icha Violence out of the hidden seal on his wrist and flipping it open with a perverted giggle. However, it seemed his relaxation would not last long…

Three sharp knocks sounded at the door. Quick as he could, he resealed the book and adopted his usual grandfatherly look, taking a pull on his pipe before speaking.

"Enter," he said.

The door swung open, revealing a small toad in a tiny jacket on the floor. He rolled his eyes and looked over his shoulder.

"Always with the theatrics, Jiraiya," he sighed. "I thought I taught you better than that."

"Aw, come on Sarutobi-sensei," the white-haired Toad Sage laughed, climbing in through the window behind his desk. "I gotta keep some excitement in my life."

He smiled at his old student as he took a seat in front of him. "So what brings you back to the village, Jiraiya?" he asked. "Last I heard, you were in Iwa."

"Ah, I got found out," he shrugged. "Well, almost found out…the old Fence-Sitter said no harm had been done since all I did was my research and he let me go since I'm not technically a Konoha shinobi."

He chuckled and puffed on his pipe. "I assume he had you sign his books too," he said.

Jiraiya smirked and rubbed the back of his head cheekily. "Yeah, that too," he laughed before his eyes turned serious. "Sensei…I found them."

"Hmm?" he asked. "Who, Jiraiya?"

The Toad Sage reached into his pocket and withdrew a small scrap of paper with a strange mark on it. It was a bird atop a yin-yang symbol with four tomoe marks flanking it. His eyes widened as he saw it. It had been nearly sixteen years since he had last seen that symbol.

"Where are they?" he said in an even tone.

"That, I'm not sure about," Jiraiya said. "I do know that he's released them. I grabbed one of his spies in Kusa talking about some kind of game that involves them."

"And what about the first five?" he asked.

"They're the only ones he didn't manage to get his hands on, thankfully," Jiraiya sighed. "I tracked Mutsu somewhere near Nami no Kuni…knowing him, he's not going to do anything unless the bastard comes for him directly. I haven't been able to put a proper trace on Karasuba since she vanished, but I have heard reports of massacres in Kiri that bear her…techniques. Kazehana's wandering right now, stopping at bars and hot springs all over the Elemental Nations from what I can tell. She's turning into a worse drinker than Tsunade-hime. Matsu's dropped off the grid entirely, but that's a given considering what the bastard wanted her for. And Miya…well, you know about her."

He nodded and took all this information in. "Do you believe he will use them to attack us?"

"Nah, from what I was able to get from his spy, he's too excited about this to rush things," Jiraiya casually waved that idea away.

"Indeed…," he nodded. "He was never one to rush things."

A brief silence fell over them before Jiraiya spoke up again. "How's Naruto doing?" he asked. "Did he make Genin?"

"Sadly, no," he sighed. "He has amazing talent for ninjutsu and is decent with his taijutsu, but his written skills are abysmal and he can't seem to perform the Bunshin. The instructors had to fail him."

"Shame," Jiraiya sucked his teeth. "Who's teaching him anyway, Kakashi?"

"No, just the regular academy instructors," Hiruzen sighed, noticing his student's scowl. "I would love nothing more than to let Kakashi oversee Naruto's growth, but the council would see it as favoritism and use it against me. Believe me, Jiraiya it's all I can do to stop riots on his birthday."

The toad sage sighed. "I know," he said. "I wonder what Minato and Kushina would say if they saw this?"

"Knowing Kushina, it would be something along the lines of a rusty sword and some poor fool's soft parts," he muttered, eliciting a chuckle from his student.

"Well, I'm going to go see Miya," Jiraiya said, standing up. "I figure she would want to know about this as soon as possible."

"It would be best if she did," he nodded. "I'll talk to you later."

"See you, sensei," he smirked, jumping back out the window.

Hiruzen sighed and pulled his book back out. "Why can't I have one normal student?" he asked, flipping the page as he thought of an alcoholic blonde and a pale-faced sociopath.

 **XXX**

Naruto sighed heavily, kicking a rock hard as he walked across the darkened paths of Konoha's public gardens. Even though it was getting late, he could still hear the sounds of people partying over their graduation exam results. Being an orphan sucked. Even if he did fail, having someone there to pick him up would have been great. Instead all he had was his shadow.

He sighed hard and sat down against a tree overlooking the small pond where people fed ducks.

"Don't feel bad about it, Naruto," someone said to his right.

He looked over and saw a familiar face approaching. "Hey, Mizuki-sensei," he smiled. "What are you doing out here this late?"

"Oh, just taking a walk," the blue-haired chunin smiled back. "I saw you and figured I would see what's going on."

"I'm okay, thanks for asking," he smiled. "'Just really bummed out I didn't pass."

Mizuki gave a comforting smile and ruffled the blonde's hair. "You know…there are other ways to pass the test," he said. "I know one that you could probably do easily."

"Really?"

He nodded. "All you have to do is take the Scroll of Sealing from the Hokage's office and learn one jutsu from it," he said. "A bunch of genin used to do that instead of the written exam back when the Shodaime was in charge."

"That's it?" he brightened up, shooting to his feet and rushing off to the Hokage Building. "Headband, here I come!"

 **XXX**

Mizuki smirked. The Kyuubi was surprisingly easy to fool. With that out of the way, he resumed his original mission, one that had been personally assigned to him by Orochimaru-sama.

"Where are you?" he whispered out, continuing his walk through Konoha, searching for his targets.

 **XXX**

"Wow, this was easy," he muttered, securing the scroll to his back after retrieving it from its vault. He'd been in the office so many times as a child he knew the combination by heart. "Jiji wasn't even here."

It was a bit strange that the Hokage wasn't present, given that it was barely eight o'clock. He used to complain about having to work well into the night and how it 'wasn't good on these old bones' and yet he was done two hours early.

"Kami must be throwing me a bone," he grinned, jumping out the window and rushing down the street towards a special training ground deeper into the woods that he sometimes used. He would be able to train without interruption there.

As soon as he arrived, he skidded to a stop and sat down, unrolling the scroll and scanning the contents. He remembered some of the jutsu inside from Iruka's lectures, like the Hirashin no jutsu, but it looked like that one was way too hard for him to figure out. Just looking at the characters on the page made his head hurt.

"Okay, moving on," he muttered, looking at the next section. "Shiki Fujin…nope, that says you die…Raikiri…needs lighting affinity…Hakke Fuin…needs to be a seal expert…hey, what about this?"

He paused over a small section that talked about cloning techniques. "Kage Bunshin, Taiju Kage Bunshin, and Bunshin Daibakuha. Solid clones that can be used for espionage, infiltration, combat…and they blow up? Cool!"

He set the scroll down and ran through the hand seals required a few times to get them set in his mind before pulling on his chakra.

"Let's do this!"

 **XXX**

 **Three Hours Later**

"Okay…," he panted, weakly holding a half ram-seal as a shadow clone in front of him awaited orders. The ground around him was scuffed up and singed badly in some places, almost like a weak paper bomb had gone off. "This…this time…we get it right."

"Got it, Boss," the clone nodded before turning and running off deeper into the woods.

He counted to ten and flared his chakra. "Katsu!"

The woods lit up with a bright flash as the clone detonated properly. He grinned widely and fell back. "I did it," he laughed, staring up at the full moon shining from behind the Hokage Monument. "I learned three jutsu from the scroll! Take that, stupid Academy!"

"Kyaah, please get out of the way!"

He blinked and squinted at the moon, noticing a black shape was rapidly falling back to earth. His eyes widened as the shape quickly reached terminal velocity, slamming down onto his chest with enough force to knock the wind out of him. He wheezed and felt his eyes roll back into his head for a moment, but when his vision cleared he saw a sight he had never thought he would ever see.

Panties. Pure white clean panties. Sitting right on his face.

His face quickly turned red and flailed around, rolling out from under the strange girl from the sky. "Sorry, dattebayo!" he yelped, bracing himself from the impending beating he was about to receive. "I swear I didn't see anything!"

"Auuuu, that hurt," the girl moaned as she sat up. "I had a feeling that was too high…"

She was a beautiful young woman of average height and slender built. She had a very developed and curvaceous body with a slim waist and flared hips. Her brown eyes were full of kindness. Her brown hair was hime-styled; with short bangs, chin-length strands surrounds her head and framing her face, a single antenna-like strands that hung just above her head, and hip-length hair at the nape of her neck. She was dressed in a white gi with red string decorating, making it resemble the traditional clothing worn by a shrine maiden with the addition of a short red skirt. However, it did not do much to detract from the sheer size of her breasts, which strained against the fabric like they were attempting to pop out. On her legs, she wore mid-calf brown boots, and upper thigh-high white stockings. On her fists were a pair of red heavy combat gloves.

"Oh, you must have broken my fall," she chirped, looking right at him. "Thank you so much!"

"Uh, that's okay," he said with a nervous grin. "Did you get hurt at all?"

"Musubi dosen't think so," she cocked her head and checked herself over.

"Oh, that's good," he sighed, worried that she might have gotten caught in the Clone Explosion. "Um…I'm Naruto Uzumaki, by the way."

"I'm Number 88, Musubi," she said with a polite bow. "It's nice to meet you, Naruto-san!"

"You too," he grinned. "Hey, what are you doing so far out here? Shouldn't you be back at the village by now?"

"Musubi was exploring," she explained. "This place is so pretty I had to see all of it! But I guess jumping off the stone heads was a bad idea."

She lightly tapped herself on the head, sticking her tongue out as she did. "Oops."

He laughed at her expression and stood up. "Glad you like our village, Musubi-chan," he smiled, nervously scratching the back of his head. "Maybe you and I can go get some ramen later. If you want to, though."

"What's ramen?" she asked, cocking her head. "Does it taste good?"

"You don't know ramen?" his jaw dropped. "Oh man, we've got to get you some ramen soon! It's the food of the gods!"

"Food!" he suddenly found himself in a bone-crushing embrace. "Naruto-san, that would be great!"

"Ack…can't…breathe…Musubi!" he choked out as a few of his ribs cracked at the force of her hug.

"Oh sorry!" she yelped, releasing him and bowing. "Musubi dosen't know her own strength, tee-hee~."

"It's okay," he smiled, catching his breath. "How about I finish up my training here and we can go get ramen?"

"Training? Oooh, can we spar?" she said, jumping to her feet and pumping her fist.

"Okay, sure!" he grinned, settling into his usual position.

"Here I come!" she exclaimed with a smile as she rocketed forwards with a straight punch.

 _Fast!_ He thought, narrowly weaving to the side and retaliating with a quick elbow strike to her stomach. However, it felt like he had just struck a piece of metal rather than flesh. _And she's strong…don't wanna get hit by that at all. I know!_

"Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!" he smirked, making the hand seal and forming ten clones.

"Wow!" Musubi exclaimed, stars in her eyes as she looked at the clones. "So cool!"

With a slight blush at her compliment, he and his clones charged forwards as Musubi met him with a series of punches. She managed to dispel three clones, but the others quickly put her on the defensive.

"This is fun!" she cheered. "You're really strong, Naruto-san!"

"NARUTO!"

He blinked at the familiar voice before grinning and turning to face his older brother. "Iruka-sensei!" he cheered, gesturing to the clones around him. "Check it out, I did it! I passed the test!"

"YOU MORON!" he yelled, using his patented **Big Head Jutsu.** "WHY'D YOU TAKE THE FORBIDDEN SCROLL!"

"SO I COULD PASS THE STUPID TEST, 'TTEBAYO!" he yelled back.

"MUSUBI DOSEN'T KNOW WHY EVERYONE IS YELLING!" the shrine maiden piped up in a loud voice.

Iruka blinked, noticing the cute brown haired girl standing close to his student. "Naruto, who's this?"

"Oh, Iruka-sensei, this is Musubi-chan," he said, rubbing the back of his head. "She's helping me train with my new jutsu…oh right, you have to gimme my headband now! I totally passed the test."

"Who told you about this?" he asked, cocking an eyebrow.

"Mizuki-sensei told me about it," he said.

No sooner had those words left his lips than he heard a whistling sound through the air.

"Musubi-chan, watch out!" he yelled as he turned and tackled the busty girl out of the way of the swarm of kunai that embedded themselves in the grass where they had been standing a second ago. "Crap, are you okay?"

"Ah, Naruto-san," the girl beneath him gave a cute moan.

He looked down and realized in his haste to move her out of harm's way, he had accidentally grabbed her breasts and squeezed. Blood rushed to his face as he recoiled in shock, spouting apologies as fast as he could.

"So you can't even do that right huh?" a new voice spoke up.

"Mizuki!" Iruka yelled up at the blue-haired chunin, dressed in full battle attire. "What's going on right now?"

"Shut up, Iruka," he snapped. "Naruto…give me the scroll. Do that, and you'll become a genin."

"Don't do it, Naruto!" Iruka yelled. "Mizuki lied to you! I don't know what he's told you about this, but you need to run, now! Get the scroll to Hokage-sama!"

"B-but, sensei, I can-"

"NOW!" he yelled, throwing some shuriken at Mizuki, who easily batted them away with a Fuma Clan shuriken.

"Child's play," he grinned. "Try this on for size!"

He hurled a paper bomb at Iruka, forcing the scarred chunin to jump left to dodge, and into the path of the giant shuriken. The sharp metal bit into his skin, his flak jacket stopping most of the damage, but still leaving him with a sizeable wound.

"Sensei!" Naruto yelled as he dashed forwards, jumping between Iruka and Mizuki. "Taiju Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!"

With a large cloud of smoke, roughly a hundred clones appeared around him. "Nobody attacks my sensei!" he yelled.

"Damn demon!" Mizuki sneered. "I was going to finish you off after Iruka, but now I think I'll do this shitty village a favor and end you now!"

"Demon?" Musubi asked, cocking her head and putting a finger to her lips. "Why are you calling Naruto-san a demon?"

"Mizuki, don't its forbidden!" Iruka yelled out, yanking the shuriken out of his side.

"Naruto," Mizuki said with a hate-filled smirk. "Do you know why everyone hates you? Why nobody cares about you? It's because you are a demon! Fifteen years ago, the Kyuubi attacked Konoha and killed hundreds of us, including Iruka's parents! But the Yondaime stopped it! And to give us a gift, he sealed it inside you for us to have our revenge! You are the Kyuubi reborn!"

He froze, gritting his teeth. It all made sense. Why people never let their children near him, why he had no friends at the academy. He was a demon.

"That's wrong!"

He blinked and saw Musubi standing in front of him as she scowled at Mizuki. "Naruto-san is a nice person," she said. "He saved Musubi from a fall and he sparred with me! And he said we would go eat later! Naruto-san is not a demon!"

She turned around, showing off a flushed face and half-lidded eyes. "He's."

She lunged forwards and tackled him to the ground, straddling his hips as she cupped his face with both hands. "My Ashikabi," she said in a breathy whisper.

"Musubi-MMPH!" he didn't get a chance to finish as the shrine maiden pressed her lips against his, her tongue sliding into his mouth. A flash of light burst through the moonlight clearing as the back of Musubi's neck started to glow. He watched, wide-eyed and slack jawed as eight rays of light spread from her neck, extending out into glowing purple feather-like constructs. It was about then that he began to feel a drain on his chakra, feeling it being transferred into Musubi. Musubi released him a second later, eyes shining brightly and a joyful expression on her face.

"My Ashikabi," she smiled down at him with an expression of pure love and affection. "Now and forever."

"How touching," Mizuki smirked as he wound his arm up to throw his shuriken. "Now die!"

Naruto's eyes hardened as he rolled Musubi off him and snatched a kunai from the ground. With a flick of his wrist, it sailed through the air and knocked the shuriken out of his hand.

"Try it…Mizuki-teme," he growled, forming a half-fam seal.

Mizuki flinched as the remaining clones dashed forwards. He jumped backwards out of the tree as the clones tried to encircle him, using his remaining Fuma shuriken to slash them.

"Katsu!" Naruto shouted as he pulsed his chakra.

The clones closest to him flashed briefly before exploding in perfect fireballs. Mizuki grunted out in pain as the blasts knocked him backwards, but he had no time to react as a pink and white blur hurtled towards him.

"You won't hurt Naruto-sama!" Musubi exclaimed. "HA!"

The busty shrine maiden slammed her fist into Mizuki's stomach, launching him clear across the training ground and into a tree. The blue-haired chunin coughed up a mouthful of blood as the remaining clones closed in on him, led by the original Naruto.

"Thanks for that, Musubi-chan," he smirked. "Now it's our turn!"

"Right!" the copies chorused, cracking their knuckles.

Mizuki's screams could be heard across the village for several minutes, accompanied by the sound of flesh striking flesh.

"Whoops," Naruto winced as the last of the clones dispelled, revealing the black and blue lump of thoroughly-beaten flesh that used to be Mizuki. "I think I might have gone overboard here."

"Naruto…"

He turned around and saw Iruka standing up, his right hand pressed against his back wound.

"Sensei…," he said with a sad smile. "I'm sorry…for what happened to your parents."

"Naruto…don't you know me better than that?" the scarred chunin smiled. "I don't think you're the fox. I know you're a good person and you would never do anything like that. You're Naruto Uzumaki of the Village Hidden in the Leaves…never forget that."

"Iruka-sensei!" he smiled, a few tears rolling down his cheeks as Musubi laid her hand on his shoulder. "Thanks…thanks for saying that…and you too, Musubi-chan."

She beamed and gave him a soft kiss on the cheek. "Naruto-sama," she smiled. "You'll never be alone now…I'm here for you."

"She's right," Iruka laughed. "Not only becoming genin, but getting a girlfriend on the same night deserves a celebration anyway! Ichiraku's is on me!"

"Woo-hoo!" he whooped and tackled his older-brother figure down, ignoring his short yelp of pain as Musubi piled on top of him as well. "Best day ever!"


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2:

 **Okay, so a number of you have been asking the same question: since Naruto is thirteen, is Musubi thirteen? Well, here's the thing. If you go back and read the fight with Mizuki, you'll see he said the Kyuubi attacked Konoha** ** _fifteen_** **years ago, meaning Naruto is fifteen, not thirteen. The Konoha 13 are all fifteen/sixteen years old. All Sekirei will be their cannon appearances as well. Sorry for the confusion, I guess this was a blunder on my part for not making this clearer.**

 _Man, what a good morning._

Naruto sighed in content as he woke up. He'd just had the best dream ever! He'd been promoted to genin, learned two A-ranked jutsu, and stopped a traitor all in one night, plus a cute girl had kissed him!

 _Oh…right,_ he grinned out, feeling a warm body snuggled up next to him. _That wasn't a dream._

After Ichiraku's, he and Musubi had returned to his apartment with full stomachs and good moods. He'd offered to take the couch for the night, but the busty shrine maiden had insisted on sleeping with her Ashikabi. For a moment, he got nervous when he heard what she had said, but then realized that Musubi was far too innocent to have pervy ideas like that, which he was thankful for.

He thought back to what she had said next…about the Sekirei. One hundred and eight beings that possessed powers far beyond the standard abilities for shinobi. And each of them was destined to battle until they were the last one standing and take the grand prize to 'ascend with their Ashikabi.' Musubi had told him that she and a few other Sekirei had come to Konoha looking for their Ashikabis. Ashikabi…that was another thing she had to explain. Musubi hadn't known all the ins and outs of what it meant literally, but to her, an Ashikabi was a Sekirei's fated partner and lover. She said that each Sekirei's goal in life was to find their Ashikabi and serve them without question.

That thought drew a slight snarl from his lips. What Musubi had said to him last night sounded a lot like slavery to him. That was one thing he would never tolerate, cruelty to another person. He himself knew how it felt to be mistreated and bullied, so he promised that he would never let that happen to Musubi or any other Sekirei he came across.

"Muyaaa…Naruto-sama, good morning," he looked over and saw Musubi sitting up in bed and rubbing her eyes. She was wearing one of his old undershirts and her panties as pajamas since her clothes were a bit dirty from last night.

"Hey, Musubi-chan," he smiled, sitting up as well. "Did you sleep well?"

"Mm-hm!" she nodded. "I slept great!"

A low gurgle rolled through the apartment and she put a dainty hand to her stomach. "But I am hungry," she moaned.

"Okay, well it's Saturday," he thought for a moment. "So why don't we get dressed and we can go out for breakfast?"

"Okay!" she chirped, grabbing the bottom of his undershirt and yanking it off, shamelessly revealing a pair of perfectly rounded perky breasts capped with a bright pink nipple.

Blood spurted from his nose like a fire hose and he quickly fell back onto the mattress, slapping a hand over his mouth and nose to keep himself from bleeding out at the sight before him.

"Ah, Naruto-sama, what happened?" Musubi exclaimed, an expression of concern marring her angelic features. "Let me help you!"

"Nonono, Musubi, wait!" he tried to say before she took a step and tripped over the covers. The busty brunette fell forwards, landing with her breasts right on his face and her legs straddling his hips.

 _Kami-sama, is this a punishment or a reward?_ He mentally groaned, feeling himself lose even more blood as his Sekirei gave a cute little moan.

"Naruto-sama, sorry about that," she said apologetically. "Musubi will be more careful next time."

"Uh…okay," he said dumbly, eyes still averted from her bare skin.

"Ahem."

He froze and looked towards the doorway of the apartment. Standing there was his landlord: a fat bald old man who had hated him since the day the Hokage had given him this apartment. His fists were trembling as he pointed at the two of them.

"GET OUT!"

 **XXX**

"…so yeah, Jiji, I think I need a new place to live," he finished, rubbing his head sheepishly.

Hiruzen sighed and rubbed his forehead. "So it would seem," he sighed. "Luckily this happened today and not Monday."

"If you can call this luck," the blonde snorted.

The Sandaime chuckled and looked over at Musubi, who was standing beside Naruto with her hand in his. "And what about you, my dear? Do you require housing as well?"

"Musubi will be staying with Naruto-sama," she said, hugging his arm close to her chest, making the blonde blush at the feeling of her breasts. "A Sekirei must always stay with her Ashikabi."

The old man's eyes widened and his pipe fell from his mouth. "Did you say Sekirei?" he asked, gripping the edge of his desk.

"Musubi did," she nodded. "Musubi is Naruto-sama's Sekirei."

He collapsed back into his chair, massaging his forehead. _So they've already reached Konoha,_ he thought. _Jiraiya…I thought that we'd have more time._

"Jiji, what's going on?" Naruto asked.

"Naruto, you need to listen to me," he said. "Sekirei are dangerous individuals that need to be treated with caution. You must not tell anyone about this, do you understand? It is an S-ranked secret."

"Huh? But Musubi's not dangerous!" he defended. "She helped me take down Mizuki and save Iruka-sensei!"

"I did not say _Musubi_ was a danger," he said placating the blonde. "And for that matter, any Sekirei that bond to you will not be a danger to Konoha. I am speaking about Sekirei who have either not been winged or under the control of enemy shinobi."

"Okay…I guess that makes sense," he said, relaxing as Musubi hugged herself even closer to him.

"Naruto-sama is so cool," she smiled, stars shining in her eyes as her Ashikabi blushed again.

"I suppose he is," the old man chuckled with a cheeky grin. "But I am serious about this matter, Naruto. You are not to speak of the Sekirei to anyone but another Ashikabi, understood?"

"Got it, Jiji," he said. "Wait, you said there are other Ashikabi? In Konoha?"

"At the moment, there is only one," he sighed. "You will meet him soon enough; his name is Kakashi Hatake. He's your jonin sensei."

"Cool!" he grinned.

"Can we fight him?" Musubi asked, pumping her fist excitedly.

"I'm sure you will get the chance soon," Hiruzen smiled. "He's often complained about how his Sekirei are rowdy. You might give them a good outlet for their aggression."

He pulled a piece of paper from his desk and quickly jotted down an address. "Here is the address of an inn I know about," he said. "The landlady is a retired shinobi who served under the Yondaime. She will not judge you for your burden."

"Really? Thanks, Jiji!" he exclaimed, giving the old man a quick hug before dashing off with the paper.

"Yes, thank you so much!" Musubi also gave him a hug, although this one was strong enough to pop his back out of place before she followed her Ashikabi. "Naruto-sama, wait for me."

 _Ooooooh, now I know how Onoki feels,_ Hiruzen moaned, bracing his back with one hand and sounding the intercom with the other. "Mari-san…please cancel all my meetings. I need a personal day."

 **XXX**

 _What a nice day,_ she thought to herself, sitting on the veranda with a cup of tea in her hands.

Miya Asama calmly took a sip of her tea, thinking back to her meeting the previous day. It had been well over a decade since she had seen Jiraiya, close to fifteen years if she had to be exact. So when he showed up at the door of Maison Izumo yesterday afternoon with a worried look on his face, she was a little more than surprised.

She had to admit, she was partially glad that they had been found, even if they were not all under her protection. Fifteen years of worrying and what-ifs had been put to rest with this knowledge. But now she was frightened, frightened that _that_ man had taken them with him. Kami knew what he had done to them…Kami knew what he was making them do.

She took a calm sip of her tea and looked up at the Hokage Monument, focusing on the scowling bust of the Yondaime looking down across the village. _Minato…_ she sighed. _What would you do right now?_

She finished her tea off and returned the cup to the sink, going about making lunch for her tenants. Matsu was no doubt holed up in her room, no doubt reading one of the perverted toad sage's smutty books, and Uzume was either sleeping or out in the village. She was about to put on her apron and start making curry when she heard a knock at the door.

"Coming," she called out, walking over and opening it.

It took every last drop of her willpower to not break down then and there. It was him. She had not seen Naruto since the day he was born, also the day that Minato and Kushina died. She had been his personal guard that night, not moving an inch from his crib except to comfort him when he cried. Three times she had drawn her blade against a group of civilians and a nurse who attempted to harm him, believing he was the Kyuubi reborn. Hiruzen had been gracious enough to pardon her actions, but it had still given her a reputation and forced her to retire. When it came time to decide his future, she had fought to raise him, along with Kakashi Hatake, Minato's last student. But the twice-dammed civilians and those thrice-dammed elders had refused, claiming that Naruto could not be influenced in any way during his childhood. So she was forbidden to see him under the law of the council. But now here he was. With a pretty brunette by his side. A girlfriend? If he had found someone who didn't judge him, then she was happy for him.

"Oh, hello. Can I help you?" she asked as normally as she could.

"Uh, yeah, is this Maison Izumo?" he asked.

"Yes it is," she nodded.

"Great! I was wondering if you had any rooms available," he said, rubbing the back of his head. "We got kicked out of our apartment earlier and the Hokage said I should come here."

 _Hiruzen, you crafty old man,_ she mentally smiled. She could not raise Naruto under the council's laws, but there was no law against allowing him to stay under her roof as a paying tenant of Maison Izumo.

"Well, come on in," she smiled, moving to the side and allowing him to pass through. "We have plenty of rooms available."

"Thank you," he smiled in relief and gave her a polite bow. "I'm Naruto Uzumaki. This is Musubi."

"Pleased to meet you," she bowed back. "My name is Miya Asama. I'm the landlady here."

"Ahh, Miya, who's that?"

She turned around and mentally winced. There at the doorway to the dining room stood one of her two tenants, Uzume…dressed in nothing buy skimpy lingerie that was more straps than cloth. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Naruto's eyes snap open and his face turn a bright red.

"U-zu-me," she said, using the special technique Kushina had taught her so many years ago. She smiled sweetly, but began emitting her killing intent in the form of a hanya mask. "You should know better than to walk around dressed like that."

"R-r-r-right, Miya-sama," the brunette vanished from sight, back up the stairs to change.

"So sorry about that," she smiled at Naruto. "She's a lovely girl, but a bit forgetful at times."

"R-right," he coughed a few times. "Um…how much is the rent, Miya-san?"

"Fifty thousand a month," she smiled. "As a shinobi, I assume you will be able to pay?"

"Sure!" he grinned, jerking a thumb at his headband. "I just became a genin, dattebayo! I'm totally good for it."

"Wonderful," she smiled. "I assume the two of you will need some time to move in?"

"Yeah, I just gotta get my stuff from my old place," he nodded, giving her a bow. "Come on, Musubi-chan!"

"Right!" the girl chirped as she followed him back outside.

She allowed herself a smile as she headed back towards the kitchen.

 _Minato…Kushina…I can finally do right by Naruto,_ she thought, discarding her earlier preparations for curry and instead pulling out a pot for ramen.

 **XXX**

 _Hmph…_

Sasuke Uchiha sulked silently as he walked through the streets of Konoha, ignoring the calls of his numerous fangirls. Today was not a good day for him…it never was. To many memories, none of them good, plagued him today.

He scowled hard as his mind drifted back nine years ago. He remembered running down this very road through the dark and entering the clan compound…and then the bodies. His clansmen laying across the street, cut down as they attempted to flee. His hands clenched tight into fists as he stopped at the front gate of the Uchiha Clan compound, the red and white fan symbol emblazoned on the front gates. Flashes danced across his vision…bodies littering the streets, blood soaking into the grass, and Itachi standing over their parent's bodies, his sword drawn and stained red. He flinched and stepped away from the gate, sweating slightly. It was still light out…he didn't have to go home just yet.

"Dammit, stay still!"

His ears twitched as he registered the sounds of electricity crackling. He turned and looked to see a pair of young girls dashing along the road towards the Uchiha compound. The first was a girl about his height with pink hair tied back in a ponytail with a pair of flower hairclips. She was dressed in a black kimono-like shirt with one sleeve missing and a red bow tied around her waist, as well as skintight mini-shorts and red combat gloves. She had a slim, but muscular build, with a relatively flat chest. The other was a slender woman with messy unkempt white hair that shadowed her eyes. She wore a tattered dark kimono over her bandage-wrapped form and a studded choker with a ring around her neck like a collar. His eyes were immediately drawn to the pair of clawed gauntlets she wore. They had long barbed tips and armored metal braces that shielded her arms up to her elbow.

"Hey, watch it!" the pink one snapped as they barreled down at him at speeds impossible for a regular civilian. "Dammit, get out of the way!"

"Hn," he scowled, stepping aside and allowing them past.

With a scowl, the pinkette darted to the right and threw her shoulder against the door to the Uchiha Compound, almost knocking it off its hinges. "Let's go, Haihane!" she yelled as she ran down the main road.

"Yeah, yeah," the other woman said in a bored tone as she followed the other woman.

"Hey, wait a minute!" he yelled, his ire sparked as he raced after them. "That's private property!"

"Huh? Why are you following us?" the pinkette said, skidding to a stop in front of his house.

"Because you're trespassing," he scowled. "Get out."

"We can't," the silver-haired girl said. "We're sitting ducks in the village."

"Not my problem," he scowled, pointing back towards the gate. "Out."

"Oh, and are you going to make us, tough guy?" the pinkette said, putting on a sadistic smirk as she cracked her knuckles.

"I don't usually hit girls," he said, slipping into the Uchiha's Interceptor Fist stance. "But for this, I'll make an exception."

"Fine," she smirked. "I'm number 105, Benitsubasa."

"Number 104…Haihane," the silver-haired girl panted out. "Hey, Washboard…can you do this by yourself? I'm…not feeling so good."

"What'd you call me!?" the now-named Benitsubasa snapped at her partner, who had sat down against the side of his house and started fanning herself. "Gah! Forget you, I can do this on my own!"

With a blast of speed, she rocketed towards him, fist cocked for a wild haymaker. He sidestepped the strike and carefully blocked her follow-up before flipping her over his shoulder.

"Tch! Not bad," she smirked, flipping back onto her feet. "Try this on for size!"

She dropped into a low stance and cupped her hands on top of each other. Chakra began pooling there until a blue light glowed between her palms.

 **"** **Pulverizer!"** she yelled, rushing forwards and throwing her fist out towards him.

"Hn," he grunted, flipping through his own hand seals. **"Katon: Gokakyu no Jutsu!"**

The chakra-charged fist collided with the fireball, the two attacks canceling each other out with a cloud of smoke. He dropped down into the Interceptor Fist again as a dark shape began to appear through the dust. Without warning, the second girl, Haihane, burst from the cloud and dashed at him with incredible speed. She was much faster than Benitsubasa, so he had no time to react as she slammed into him and tackled him back onto the ground. He winced as her claws poked his shoulders, feeling her nimbly swing around until she was straddling him. He looked up into her eyes, his heart thumping in his chest.

 _I can't die here!_ he panicked. _I have to avenge my clan! I have to make Itachi pay for what he did to us…what he did to me! Huh?_

He was jolted from his thoughts by a soft sensation on his lips. His eyes widened as he saw Haihane leaning over his form, her mouth gently nibbling at his own. The air around them glowed bright blue as he felt his chakra slowly being drained into the girl's body. His mind shrieked at him to move away, to go for the kunai in his holster, or to at least make a sound of protest. But his body refused to obey. With a bright blue flash, feathers of light sprouted from her back. When they finally faded, she pulled away and looked down at him with flushed cheeks and an embarrassed expression.

"Uh…n-now and f-f-forever, my Ashikabi-sama," she stuttered out, looking away.

"Wha?"

"You bastard!"

Both of them turned in time to see Benitsubasa rocketing towards them, her fist clenched for another strike. Her clothes and hair were slightly singed from his fireball. "I'm gonna make you regret being born!" she yelled out. "Huh?"

In a blur of speed, Haihane had jumped away and met her attacks head on, slashing wildly with her claws and forcing the pink-haired girl to backpedal. "Haihane, what the hell is going on?"

"I won't let you attack my Ashikabi," she said in a dangerous tone.

"You got winged?" the pinkette exclaimed.

"This guy is strong," she shrugged, turning a bright embarrassed red. "It felt nice too."

She grit her teeth and glared at him as he got up, a light pink dusting her cheeks. "Dammit, you'd better take responsibility for me too!"

She stomped over to him and slammed him against the porch railing, the blush on her face growing stronger as she got closer to him.

"Now and forever," she whispered, angrily kissing him.

Again, he felt a drain on his chakra as bright pink wings emerged from Benitsubasa's back, spreading out to bathe the area in a soothing glow. His body once again refused to obey his mind, calmly letting this complete stranger ravish his lips while her hands wandered up and down his back and through his hair.

"Fwah!" she gasped as the need for oxygen overpowered her need to be winged. "Hah…hah…my Ashikabi."

He slumped down against the porch as she released him. He had lost a good chunk of his charka just now, plus what he used for the Fireball Jutsu. But he couldn't be weak now. Struggling, he dragged himself upright and staggered up the stairs to the front door.

"Rest first," he panted out, leveling a weak glare at the two girls behind him. "Then answers."

 **XXX**

"Dammit, they got away!" yelled a tall woman dressed in a purple S&M suit as she watched the two Sekirei and their Ashikabi enter a house.

"Nee-san, calm down," said a woman who looked identical to her, wearing a similar pink suit. "We couldn't get them anyway once they went inside the compound."

"I know, I know!" the older sister snapped. "But now they're winged to that kid!"

"And didn't I tell you two not to go after unwinged Sekirei anymore?"

"KYAH!" Both twins jumped at the voice speaking from directly behind them.

"Yo, Hibiki, Hikari," said a man dressed in a blue shinobi outfit with a jonin vest over his chest. He wore a mask over the lower portion of his face and had his forehead protector pulled down to cover his left eye. His silver hair was styled in its usual gravity-defying spiky fashion and he was carrying a certain orange book in his hand. "What's up?"

"Kakashi, you jerk!" Hikari yelled. "Don't scare us like that!"

"Where were you anyway?" Hibiki pouted, looking at her Ashikabi with worried eyes.

"Funny story about that," he eye-smiled. "I was just about to get lost on the road of life when I get a summons from Hokage-sama telling me my cute little Sekirei were terrorizing the village… _again._ "

Both twins immediately looked at the ground. "Sorry," the mumbled.

"You should be," he said. "Because you know what this means."

"Punishment," Hibiki sulked.

"Hell no!" Hikari crossed her arms and shook her head. "I ain't doing that ever again, you hear me? Never again!"

"Too bad," he eye-smiled with a giggle. "But let's go home first. It's getting late and dinner is getting cold.

"Hai," they said, hugging his sides as he activated a quick Shunshin and vanished from the rooftops.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3:

 **Okay, lately I've been getting a lot of flak from you guys about giving Sasuke Benitsubasa and Haihane as well as sticking to canon.**

 **Cannon: Well, what else am I supposed to do at this point? Do you honestly expect me to throw in some crazy plot twist on chapter two and be cool with it? C'mon, guys (and girls), be real. I have no intention of solely sticking to canon throughout the entire story. But it's chapter freaking two. Rest assured, I will bring in my own stuff soon.**

 **Sasuke's flock: First of all, there is no Discipline Squad here. Therefore, Beni and Haihane are not souped-up super-powered Sekirei. They have abilities that can be improved through physical training just like all the others in this story. As for giving them to Sasuke, that's a secret.**

 **Hope this cleared things up. Please read and if you really like this, remember to smash that review button.**

 **Also, my updating schedule is usually about a week between chapters, but I finished this early so I decided to give it to you guys now. Don't be expecting a chapter every few days, since finals are just around the corner for me.**

 **Enjoy!**

"That's the last of it," Naruto grunted, watching as his shadow clones started to haul his belongings out of his old apartment. It had taken a little longer than expected to move since his old landlord had tried to deny him access to his stuff, but a quick word with the Hokage had sorted that mess out.

"Naruto-sama~!" Musubi chirped, not at all fazed by the gigantic bundle of stuff she was carrying on her back. "Musubi is ready when you are!"

"Awesome, dattebayo!" he grinned, giving her a thumbs-up. "Let's go!"

"Right," the clones nodded as they started to make their way back to the north part of the village.

The last few days had been the best days of his life. He honestly couldn't remember a time when he had been happier. Musubi was a godsend to him. She was so nice and caring and she loved to help him train. The fact that she was the cutest girl he had ever met and she loved him with all her heart didn't hurt either.

After about a ten minutes' walk, they arrived at the front door of Maison Izumo. Miya was waiting for them at the front door.

"My, my, my, so much stuff," she smiled.

"Sorry about that, Miya," he said. "Most of its stuff for training."

"Oh, that's fine," the purple-haired woman said. "Whatever you can't fit in your room can be stored in the basement."

"Really? Thanks!" he beamed. "Come on, boys! Let's get this set up!"

With a collective nod, the clones filed into the house and up to the room that Miya had assigned for him and Musubi.

"Mou, Naruto-sama," Musubi called, carrying his old bedframe in one hand and the mattress in the other with no sign of strain as she tried to fit through the doorway. "Musubi can't get into the house!"

"Ah, here let me help, Musubi-chan," he said, taking the mattress from her.

"My goodness, you're strong," Miya said, covering her mouth as she giggled.

"That's because Musubi is a fist-type Sekirei," the bubbly girl grinned.

Naruto stopped dead in his tracks, remembering what the Hokage had said about telling people about the Sekirei. Spreading S-ranked secrets was punishable by death. He'd just become a genin…he was too young to die yet!

"What an active imagination," Miya giggled, patting Musubi on the head before walking inside. "Lunch will be ready in an hour or so. Please remember to wash before coming down to eat."

"Hai!" Musubi chirped.

"Musubi!" Naruto hissed, jumping over to her and whispering in her ear. "Jiji told us not to tell anyone about the Sekirei, remember?"

"Oh, right!" she said, knuckling herself on the head. "Oops. Sorry, Naruto-sama."

He nodded and helped her get the bed up the stairs into their room. It was much larger than his old bedroom, big enough to accommodate bed and his dresser with plenty of room left over. He would have to get some more furniture once he started going on missions and had the money to pay for it.

"Ah, this is so nice!" Musubi said, flopping down on the bed and spreading her arms. "Naruto-sama, isn't this a great room?"

"It sure is," he grinned, sitting down next to her with his back against the headboard.

Musubi rolled onto her side and wrapped her arms around his torso, nuzzling her face into his shirt. "Mmm, Naruto-sama," she said, eyes drooping a bit. "Musubi always dreamed of finding her Ashikabi…and now she has you. Musubi promises to never leave you, Naruto-sama."

He blushed red at those words. They may not have been overly-romantic like the stuff in Jiji's orange books, but they meant something to him. He'd always been alone. No family or friends until he started the academy and even then it was only Iruka, who he wouldn't see after he started going on missions. But Musubi was different. She wouldn't leave him. He knew it in his heart that she meant what she said.

"Ufufufu," he turned to see Miya standing in the doorway, giggling into her sleeve. "Don't you look comfortable."

"Uh, hang on," he blushed, trying to get Musubi off of him, but the Sekirei's sleeping grip around his torso was unbreakable.

"Oh, it's fine," Miya smiled. "I do not condone any lewd acts in Maison Izumo, but I see no harm in letting your girlfriend hug you."

He let out a sigh of relief, but then flinched as the room darkened and the temperature seemed to drop thirty degrees. From behind Miya, a demonic hanya mask floated out, its eyes staring right into his soul.

"But know that from now on, any and all lewd acts will be punished," she said sweetly before leaving.

He let out the breath he hadn't known he was holding and looked back down at Musubi's sleeping face, brushing a strand of hair out of her eyes. As he did so, he watched as her eyes moved under her eyelids, lips twitching as if she was saying something. He allowed himself a smile and gently kissed her forehead.

"I'll never leave either, Musubi-chan," he said, relaxing into his Sekirei's warm embrace.

 **XXX**

Unbeknownst to Naruto, he was being watched.

About thirty feet away, behind a false door to a room that had no windows, a certain red-haired woman was looking at him through a screen. Around her were discarded food cartons, drink cans, empty tissue boxes, and dozens of copies of Icha-Icha…as well as other _far_ more adult items. On the walls were book cases piled high with sealing scrolls and books on jutsu. The light from the computer screen flashed across her glasses as she zoomed in on the image of Naruto sleeping next to Number 88.

"Ufufufu, Naru-tan," she giggled, a bit of drool sliding down her cheek as her mind went to overdrive. "Soon…soon."

Perverse giggling could be heard across Konoha for the next few minutes…followed by a smack courtesy of Miya's ladle.

 **XXX**

"Stay still, dammit!"

Sasuke allowed himself a brief smirk as Benitsubasa chased him around the Uchiha Clan training grounds, easily dodging her sloppy strikes.

"You'd think that not having big boobs would make her faster," Haihane snickered from her position atop a nearby training post.

"SHADDUP!" the Red Sekirei screamed at her flock sister. "You aren't much bigger than I am, Haihane."

"Am so," she smirked, puffing her chest out a bit in pride. "You're never going to get with Sasuke with those little mosquito bites."

"Sasuke-sama dosen't care about big breasts!" she shot back.

"Don't talk about me like I'm not here," he scowled. "And I am not talking about this now. We're training, remember?"

"Right," Benitsubasa said, jumping back down into her fighting stance. "Don't worry, Sasuke-sama, with my help, you'll get super strong in no time!"

"Says the girl who can't land a single punch," Haihane smirked.

He sighed and watched as his Sekirei started to bicker… _again._ Honestly, it was beginning to get old pretty quick seeing Benitsubasa get riled up so easily over things like her chest. She was extremely strong, though…way stronger than he thought possible for a girl of her build. Haihane was the faster of the two of them, using her speed and claws in conjunction for devastating attacks while Benitsubasa focused on dealing huge amounts of damage over a large area. They were a deadly combo…when they weren't acting like five year olds.

After winging them last night, they had told him all they knew of what was going on. Sekirei…Ashikabi…the plan to fight and be the last one standing. It was crazy to believe this, but after watching Benitsubasa destroy a section of the woods behind the compound with a single punch changed his mind. He didn't feel comfortable with the idea of them loving him though. Love was weak. Hate was what he needed to be strong. These two were just a means to an end. They were expendable.

"Can we please just train?" he asked, seeing as Benitsubasa was about ready to throw down with the Blue Sekirei.

"Right," they nodded as Benitsubasa dropped back into her fighting stance. "Here I come!"

She blasted forwards, aiming to land a flurry of blows on his chest and upper body as Haihane dove down at him, her claws splayed for a non-fatal blow. He palmed a kunai from his holster and blocked Haihane's strike, but was too slow to avoid Benitsubasa's palm connecting with his solar plexus. He felt himself fly backwards into the training post, head swimming from the force of the blow as he fought for breath.

"Ah! Sasuke-sama!"

He blinked rapidly, trying to force the spots from his eyes as Benitsubasa ran over to him and began checking him over.

"Oh, Kami, what did I do? I killed my Ashikabi!" she panicked, hugging his head to her chest. He had to fight back a blush as he felt her small, but firm breasts pressing against his face and quickly stood up, knocking her to the ground.

"I'm fine," he grunted, rolling his shoulder. _Damn, she hits hard._

"Oh thank Kami," the pinkette breathed out. "Sasuke-sama, should we keep going?"

"…no, that's enough for now," he said, nursing his stomach. _I need to get this taken care of before tomorrow's meeting. I can't look weak in front of the dobe._

"Ufufufu."

He looked over his shoulder and sweatdropped. Haihane, moving in an incredible burst of speed, was now sitting in one of the deck chairs with a cheesy action/romance manga in her hands, giggling like a schoolgirl. He swore, all she did with her free time was read that junk and sleep. At least Benitsubasa took time to train and eat properly. Even though…

"Sasuke-sama, can we go into the village and eat together?" the pinkette piped up as she followed him back into the house. "I hear there's a new restaurant that serves great barbeque."

"Hn," he just grunted and walked to the bathroom.

"Do you need help washing your back?"

"Hn."

"Oh…okay," she said, a little crestfallen as he shut the door and locked it for good measure.

 _She's almost as annoying as those fangirls,_ he sighed and ran the water in the tub. _But she's strong…and I need that strength._

 **XXX**

 **Monday**

Naruto sighed, resting his head against the wall. To his right, Sasuke and Sakura sat against the wall, the later trying to ignore the former. They had been sitting there for maybe three hours waiting for their jonin-sensei to come. As far as he could tell, all the other genin had met with their sensei and gone off to start training. But for some reason, he was stuck here watching his former crush read a book about theoretical ninjutsu while the class's resident emo king stared out the window.

 _I wish Musubi-chan was here_ , he pouted. He'd wanted to bring her along, but the Hokage had told it would be risky to have Sasuke and Sakura see her and start asking questions. Neither he nor the bubbly shrine maiden had been happy with the arrangement, but he couldn't exactly go against the Hokage could he?

His ears twitched as he picked up the sounds of footsteps sounding from down the hall. A second later, a masked man poked his head in through the door. "Team Seven?"

"Yeah?" Sakura asked. "Are you our sensei?"

He nodded and swept his visible eye across the room. "I have to say, my first impression of you guys," he said, pausing for a moment. "…you're boring. Meet me on the roof in three minutes."

With that he was gone in a puff of smoke.

"Well…that happened," he sighed, standing up and moving for the door. "See you guys there."

He ran as fast as he could up the three flights of stairs to the roof and threw open the door with a bang.

"Not bad," the masked man said, not looking up from a little orange book he was reading. "I admire your enthusiasm, Naruto."

"Heh, thanks, Kakashi-sensei," he grinned as Sasuke and Sakura made their way to the roof.

"Alright then, now that we're all here," Kakashi said, putting his book away, "why don't we get started with introducing ourselves?"

"What do you mean?" asked Sakura.

"Oh, just your likes, dislikes, dreams, hobbies, that sort of thing," he said.

"Can you show us how to do it?"

"I don't see the harm in that," he said with an eye-smile. "My name is Kakashi Hatake. I have various likes and various dislikes. My dream, I don't feel like telling you right now and as for hobbies…hmmm…. I guess I have a lot of hobbies."

 _That was an impressive list of no information,_ Naruto sweatdropped. _But I guess as another Ashikabi, he needs to keep stuff secret._

"Okay, who wants to go next?" he asked, clapping his hands. "How about you, pinkie?"

Sakura scowled at the nickname but spoke up. "My name is Sakura Haruno," she said. "I like my family and my friends. I dislike loud idiots like Naruto. My dream is to be a successful kunoichi and someone who is worthy of admiration. I like playing trivia games and reading."

 _Wow…I thought she'd be a lot different,_ Naruto thought with a cocked eyebrow. _What changed?_

"Very good," Kakashi smiled before looking at Sasuke. "Your turn."

"Hn," the last Uchiha grunted. "I'm Sasuke Uchiha. I…. like omusubi and taking long walks. I dislike sweet things a lot of other things I don't want to share. My hobbies are training and learning new jutsu. I have a dream…but it's more like an ambition. I'm going to revive my clan…and kill a certain man."

 _Dark, but I kinda figured that already,_ he nodded as Sasuke tented his hands and assumed his classic brooding position.

"Okay, now Naruto," Kakashi said.

"Right!" he grinned. "I'm Naruto Uzumaki, dattebayo! I like ramen, training, and my…friend, Musubi. I hate veggies and stuck-up people. My hobbies are pulling pranks and gardening. As for my dream, I'm gonna be Hokage one day, and get so strong that I'll surpass all who came before me!"

"Nice!" Kakashi said, giving him a thumbs up. "Now that we've got that out of the way, let me tell you this. Meet me tomorrow at training ground three for our genin exam."

"Huh? But I thought we already passed the exam?" Sakura said.

"Technically, you passed the first exam," Kakashi said. "That was just to determine who would be most likely to become genin. This test is a bit different."

"Different how?" Sasuke scowled.

"Wouldn't you like to know," Kakashi winked. "Training ground three, seven o'clock sharp, and don't eat breakfast or you'll puke. Oh, and just so you know, this test has a sixty-six percent failure rate, so I would take this time to make sure you're prepared. Later!"

And with that, he vanished in a swirl of leaves.

"Dammit, I'm not failing again!" Naruto exclaimed, turning to his teammates. "Later, guys, I gotta go train!"

"Hn," Sasuke gave a small smirk. "Think you're gonna drag us down, dobe?"

"As if, teme!" he snapped back. "I can totally kick Kakashi's ass, I just wanna make sure I stay in good condition."

"Whatever," he said, walking for the door. "I've got some things to do."

"Same here," Sakura nodded. "See you guys."

 **XXX**

"So what do you think?" Hiruzen asked as Kakashi appeared in his office with a swirl of leaves.

"I'd say they all have incredible potential," he shrugged. "Naruto and Sasuke especially. Sakura seems to have broken out of her schoolgirl mindset, going off of what Iruka has told me, but she needs to increase her physical training regime before she can be expected to do any heavy fighting. Sasuke still has this avenger mindset, but I'm confident he can be broken out of it as well. Naruto is…well, Naruto."

Hiruzen chuckled. "He's unpredictable, isn't he?" he said, lighting his pipe. "How has Sasuke adapted to life with Sekirei?"

"I wouldn't know," he said honestly. "Trespassing on clan grounds is punishable by law, even for jonin. But from what I can hear from the wall, he's got his hands full."

They shared a brief laugh at Sasuke's expense before settling down.

"Have you heard anything about the Five?" he asked, sitting down across from the old Hokage.

"Bits and pieces," he sighed. "They were trained well enough to vanish like this if the need arose, so it's expected they would still be hiding. Jiraiya has gone off trying to find Kazehana and convince her to return, but I wouldn't expect any of them to return home on their own."

"Especially Karasuba," Kakashi said with a sigh.

"Especially her," he agreed. "I have a good idea of where she is now, though: Kiri."

"Makes sense," he nodded. "She's free to do whatever she wants there without fear of being found. Nobody would look for a single killer in the middle of the Bloodline Purges."

Hiruzen nodded. "She is the best at what she was taught to do," he sighed. "Thankfully, Mutsu didn't end up like either her or Kazehana."

"You mean a love-sick alcoholic or a psychopathic killer?" Kakashi scoffed. "Yeah, lucky us."

"Anyway, we've tracked him from Kaminari no Kuni to Nami no Kuni," Hiruzen continued. "He dosen't appear to be doing anything at the moment though."

"Are you going to send a team to retrieve him?"

"I'd be sending those men to their deaths," he said. "The only people capable of taking on one of the Five are you, me, Guy, and the Sannin, and even then it's up to chance to see who comes out the victor."

"Minato-sensei could bring him back," Kakashi sighed, staring out the window.

"But Minato isn't here anymore," he sighed. "Perhaps Naruto could?"

"Yeah…Hokage-sama, we both know Mutsu dosen't swing that way," Kakashi sweatdropped.

"You know what I mean," he scowled. "Anyway, that is all. I suspect your Sekirei will be missing you."

"Oh, I'm sure they're just fine," he eye-smiled. "They're probably at home eating right now.

At that moment, Hibiki and Hikari both sneezed mid-step, causing them both to trip and fall on their faces, letting the Sekirei they were chasing escape.

 **XXX**

 **That Night**

"Ow, ow, ow, Miya, that hurts, dattebayo!" he exclaimed as the purple-haired woman continued to wipe antiseptic on one of his numerous scratches.

"Well then maybe you shouldn't have decided to have a no-holds-barred sparring match with Musubi," she said sweetly. "Although…I'm impressed you were able to hold you own against a Sekirei for so long."

"You know about the Sekirei?" he asked, eyes wide.

"Of course," she giggled. "All the higher-ranked shinobi in the village know about the Sekirei."

"Oh yeah, Jiji told me you served under the Yondaime," he said, wincing as she dabbed hard on a long scratch across his bicep. "Hey…did you ever meet him?"

"Yes," she said with a soft smile. "He was one of the greatest men I have ever known."

"Can…can you tell me about him?" he asked.

"Why? Didn't you already learn about him in the academy?"

"Yeah, but I didn't always pay attention in class, ya know," he said. "But…I wanna know what kind of a man he was…what made him choose me."

As he said that, he laid a hand over his bare stomach, where the black ink of the Shiki Fujin stood clear against his tan skin. Miya sighed and pulled his hand away from the seal.

"The Yondaime…Minato," she started. "I met him a very long time ago…years before you were born, Naruto. In many ways he helped me become the person I am today. He was a kind and gentle man, perhaps a bit too trusting of some people, but he genuinely believed that no matter how dark a person can be, a light can still reach them."

She smiled and gestured to his seal. "He sealed the Kyuubi into you because he believed that you were the only one who could hold it back," she said. "He had the uttermost faith in you, Naruto. Never in a million years would he want to hurt you."

"But…the villagers."

"Are fools," she said, resisting the urge to flare her killing intent. "They are fools to spit on his wishes, that is all there is to say about them. Tell me, do you really want to acknowledgement of people like that?"

"…no, but I need it to be Hokage," he said.

"No, you don't," she said, lightly flicking his forehead. "None of the Hokage were chosen because they were well-liked. They were chosen for their ability to protect this village, to protect the peace."

"Peace?"

She nodded. "It's like a mother's love," she said. "When you have something that is precious to you, you will always find strength to defend it, no matter who you have to face or what you have to do. Minato taught me that lesson a long time ago."

"I…think I get it," he said, scratching his head.

"It took me a while to fully understand it too," she giggled, finishing his last cut. "Okay, that should do it. I think it would be best for you to wash up before dinner. The bath is ready whenever you are."

"Thanks, Miya," he smiled, getting up and heading for the bathroom. "Oh, yeah. What happened to Musubi?"

"Since she was not overly reckless with her training," cue the sickly sweet grin, "I asked her to run out and pick up some ingredients for dinner. She should be home shortly."

"Okay, I'll be back in a few," he nodded.

He walked into the changing area and took off his clothes, placing them neatly in the baskets before wrapping a towel around his waist and getting entering the actual bathroom. He started scrubbing himself down to get into the bath when he heard the door to the changing room open.

"Musubi?" he called, tightening the towel around his waist. "I was just about to get in, so…GAH!"

Two soft orbs of flesh pressed against his bare back, hardened nubs rubbing into his skin as a pair of slender arms wrapped around his chest. A mischievous giggle floated though the steamy air as hands started rubbing over his chest. He looked back over his shoulder to see a young woman with pale skin and long red hair done up in side plaits leaning over his shoulder.

"Wh-wh-who are you?" he stammered out, trying to ignore the sensation of her bare breasts rubbing against his skin.

"Matsu," she said, her breath tickling his ear.

"Wha-what do you want?"

"Ufufufu, don't be shy, Naru-tan," she giggled perversely, suddenly wearing a pair of glasses that flashed creepily in the light. "Come on and cool my body down with your hot, thick DNA."

That did it. With a burst of chakra, he stood up and charged out of the bathroom, shrieking like a little girl as Matsu's perverted laughter echoed through the hallways.

"Come back, Naru-tan!" her voice echoed. "Matsu won't bite…much~."

"Naruto-sama?" Musubi stepped out of their room in time to see him skid to a halt in the middle of the hallway, clad only in a towel and dripping wet. "Is something wrong?"

"Can't talk, gotta hide!" he yelped as Matsu staggered out of the bathroom behind him, stark naked with a paper tag in her hands.

"Ah, so you've returned Number 88!" she cackled. "Fortunately, I've prepared for this."

With a flick of her wrist, the paper flew across the hallway and adhered itself to Musubi's chest. "Activate!" Matsu said, making a ram seal. The tag suddenly lit up as lines of elegant characters spiraled out from it, reaching across Musubi's form. Suddenly her body went limp and she collapsed on the floor in a heap.

"Eh? Naruto-sama, I can't move!" she exclaimed, her body straining as she tried to get back up.

"What did you to do her?" he exclaimed.

"Just a temporary paralysis tag," Matsu giggled evilly, pushing her glasses up. "It's to ensure she dosen't interfere with our…experiments."

The way she said that made him break out in a cold sweat as the drooling redhead stalked closer to him, her hands outstretched and making grabbing motions. She backed him right up against the wall and started reaching for his towel when Kami decided to throw him a bone.

"Ma-tsu," a chilling aura filled the hallway as Miya walked into view, a hanya mask materializing behind her as she stared down at the redhead. "You of all people should know not to intrude on people in the bath and then chase them around my house, dripping water everywhere."

"Miya-tan, so mean," the redhead pouted, barely repressing a shiver at the sight of the mask.

"What was that?"

"Nothing!"

"Good," Miya nodded. "I suggest you let Naruto-san finish his bath and get dressed before you decide to throw yourself at him again…and you'll be cleaning up all this water, won't you?"

"Yes!" she said in a high-pitched tone, shivering as a second mask began to materialize. "I'm sorry, Miya-sama, I promise I'll be good!"

Miya gave them all a pleasant smile and walked away.

"Wow, Landlady-sama is scary," Musubi piped up from her position on the ground. "Ah, Naruto-sama?"

"Yes, Musubi?"

"Your towel is slipping."

He barely had enough time to grab it before he flashed them both, eliciting a disappointed moan from Matsu.

 **XXX**

"Yeah, sorry about that," Matsu said, rubbing her head sheepishly as Miya brought dinner to the table. "Anyway, I guess I should start over again. I'm Number 02, Matsu."

"Yeah, why the hell did you jump me in the bath, dattebayo!" Naruto snapped, folding his arms.

"Ehehehe…I'm reacting to you," she said with a blush. "You know what that means, right?"

"Uh, but I already have Musubi-chan," he said, pointing at the shrine maiden who was currently stuffing her face with Miya's delicious beef curry, oblivious to the world.

"Ah, but did you know that an Ashikabi can have multiple Sekirei?" Matsu snickered, her glasses flashing perversely. "Ufufufu…Naru-tan can have as many as he wants."

The thought of multiple beautiful women like Musubi all surrounding him was enough to make his face flush a bright red. "Uh…., hey wait a second!"

Matsu had jumped out of her seat and was now crawling across the tabletop towards him, giggling perversely. "Now," she said, jumping into his lap and straddling his waist. "Now for the most important part…"

She pressed her lips to his and he felt his chakra being sucked out of his system as the red haired Sekirei deepened the kiss, adding her tongue to the mix. A golden light lit up the room as intricate sealing characters spiraled out from Matsu's back, condensing into eight wings of light.

"Ah~," she panted when she finally released him, licking up the drool that had leaked from her mouth onto his cheek. "Sekirei Number 02, Matsu, is yours now and forever, Naru-tan. Now…let the experiments commence~!"

"Ahem."

Both of them recoiled as Miya suddenly appeared behind them, hanya mask glaring down at them as she brandished her ladle.

"Indecent acts are not permitted in Maison Izumo, Matsu," she said. " _Especially_ not on my dinner table."

Many screams of pain shortly followed, accompanied by the sound of Musubi still eating without a care in the world.


	4. AUTHOR'S NOTE

**SO PRETTY MUCH ALL OF THE COMMENTS I'VE RECIEVED ABOUT CHAPTER FOUR AND UZUME HAVE BEEN NEGATIVE...SO FUCK IT, I'LL PUT HER WITH NARUTO. HOPE YOU'RE ALL HAPPY.**


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 4:

 **What is going on, Fanfiction?**

 **Okay, so finals are coming and I have a crap ton of work to do. Plus, my birthday is only a few days away and I figure I would get this out to you guys as fast as I can. I am not going to be able to update regularly for a couple of months, since I'm starting a summer job that is going to wipe me out after finals. Expect a chapter here and there, but I probably won't start going regularly again until at most August. I may be starting another Naruto fic as well, so keep your eyes peeled for that too. I won't spoil much, but it will involve a white-scaled monster we all know and love (Not Orochimaru).**

 **Okay, so now time to answer some questions. I have had to deal with a surprising number of comments suggesting I put Uzume with Naruto, especially one uppity little jackass who keeps PM-ing me about it. I won't say his name, but here's one of his messages:**

 **"** **Ur a fcking faggt and ur story sucks ass. Put Uzume wth Naruto and it wnt be a totl failur."**

 **Okay, sunshine. First off If my story sucks, then don't read it. Second, I don't know if your keyboard is broken or you're just illiterate. Seriously, learn to speak and write in English first and then come talk to me if you have honest suggestions. If you just want to be a bitch, then don't bother.**

 **Also, major shout out to my beta and good buddy Chidori Eiso. Check out his fic** ** _Thunder Maidens_** **for some more hot Sekirei action.**

 **Enjoy, and All Hail the Secretary!**

"Sasuke-sama, wait up!" Benitsubasa huffed as she and Haihane followed him out the door.

He sighed, already regretting his decision to let them accompany him today. Last night over dinner, a two course meal of teriyaki rib-eye steak and chicken yakisoba (prepared by his surprisingly culinary-skilled Sekirei), he had asked them for help in dealing with Kakashi's test. They would shadow him during the exam and support him if he had to engage Kakashi in close-ranged combat. At first he had been apprehensive of letting them show themselves, but Benitsubasa had been _very_ adamant in her decision to fight with her Ashikabi.

He let out a deep breath and stared up at the sky. It didn't matter. Passing this test would bring him one step closer to Itachi, and if these two could help him then he would allow them.

He paused, feeling a tingle go down his spine, as if he was being watched.

"Sasuke, what's wrong?" Haihane asked, stopping next to him.

"It's…its nothing," he shook his head. "I must still be tired."

None of them noticed as a solitary crow watched from the rooftops above them, a glowing red eye set in its skull.

 **XXX**

Miya hummed to herself as she prepared breakfast. This morning was a traditional meal of rice, miso soup, and tamagoyaki, and by golly there was a lot of it. Feeding four hungry mouths, one of which being Musubi, required plenty of food. Thankfully, Hiruzen had been gracious with her shinobi pension so she could afford to keep this up. Naruto and Uzume already paid rent consistently so now she could become a little more…creative with her meals.

The sound of footsteps sounded from the hallway and she looked out in time to see Uzume strapping on her sandals and making for the door.

"My, my, you're up early," she said, getting the brunette's attention.

"Yeah, I…got something to do," she said sheepishly, rubbing the back of her neck. "I'm probably going to be out all night, sorry about that."

"Uzume," she said, looking at the girl with serious eyes. "You're reacting, aren't you?"

The cloth-wielding Sekirei flinched and looked over her shoulder. "…yeah," she said.

"Is it Naruto?"

"….yeah," she said after a minute. "Yeah…his presence…if I don't stay away, I feel like I'll go crazy, Miya."

"Uzume," she said, walking up to the young woman and laying her hand on her shoulder. "Do you believe Naruto will hurt you?"

"…no, but you know my reasons," she said.

"Do you think he will reject you?"

"I don't think so."

She smiled. "Then listen to your heart," she said. "Trust that it will not lead you astray and you will find your Ashikabi."

Uzume looked at her for a few moments before her shoulders relaxed and she gave a bitter smile. "Alright," she said. "I can't do it today, but I swear I'm gonna do it!"

She turned and raced out the door, her ponytail trailing behind her as she moved. Miya smiled and returned to the kitchen. "That girl," she chuckled. "She had such a bad experience with Ashikabis…I hope you can help her, Naruto."

A tingle went up her spine as she turned her head towards the staircase, listening to the beeping of an alarm clock coming from the second floor. "Speaking of Ashikabis…"

 **XXX**

"I am so dead," Naruto moaned to himself.

The blonde Jinchuuriki had set his alarm to go off at six in the morning, which would give him plenty of time to warm up and get himself set for the test at seven. However, now he found himself pinned under two warm and supple bodies. On his right, Musubi was pretty much straddling his waist while literally cramming his arm between her gigantic breasts. Her head was resting on his shoulder, allowing her warm, steady breathing to tickle his neck. Once again she was wearing a large shirt and panties as pajamas. On his left, Matsu was practically laying on his body, his hand somewhere down around her mid-thighs while her large breasts were pressed against his face. She was wearing a skimpy pink teddy that did nothing to hide the fact she was not wearing a bra.

 _Oh man, if Miya sees this, she'll kill me!_ He panicked, wishing he had learned the seal-less kawarimi for this moment.

"Munyaaah…Naruto-sama, good morning" Musubi gave a cute little yawn and sat up, rubbing her eyes.

 _Saved!_ He mentally cheered. "Musubi-chan, can you help me get Matsu off me?"

"What's a Matsu?" she asked, cocking her head cutely. "Is it delicious?"

"Uh…no, this is Matsu," he said, using his free hand to point at the redhead currently affixed to his left side. "Remember? Last night she got winged on the dinner table?"

"Uhhh…Oh! Musubi remembers now," she smiled, easily pulling Matsu off his side with one hand.

"Thanks, Musubi," he grinned, giving her a little peck on the cheek, eliciting a blush from the fist-type.

"No fair," Matsu moaned, sitting up and rubbing her eyes. "Naru-tan, this Matsu wants a kiss too."

"Uh…okay," he said, giving the perverted Sekirei a peck. "Hey, I gotta get ready now. Think you two can help me?"

"Right!" Musubi said, pumping her fist.

"With my help, you'll pass this test easily," Matsu said, putting on her glasses and grinning.

"How?" Musubi asked cutely. "Matsu-san dosen't seem very strong to me."

"That's because I'm a brain-type Sekirei," Matsu said. "My skills lie in my intelligence and problem-solving ability."

"So you're like Shikamaru?" he asked.

"Even better," she grinned. "While I am a master strategist, I learned the art of Fuinjutsu from one of Konoha's great Sannin! I guarantee, there's not a better seal master in the Elemental Nations."

"What's Fuinjutsu?" he asked.

Matsu blatantly stuck her hands in between her breasts and rummaged around. He quickly averted his eyes to avoid a nosebleed while Musubi watched with a curious expression.

"This is Fuinjutsu," Matsu said, pulling out a sealing tag from the depths of her cleavage. "It's the ancient art of shinobi sealing. Seals are so powerful that they can pretty much do whatever the user can imagine, from absorbing jutsu to imprisoning a bijuu."

"Like what Naruto-sama has," Musubi chirped, pulling up his shirt and exposing the seal on his stomach.

"Yeah, but that one is in a whole different category," Matsu said.

"So that paralysis tag you used on Musubi was Fuinjutsu," he thought, pulling his shirt back down with a grin. "That's so cool! Matsu, can you teach me how to do that?"

"Ufufufu, of course Naru-tan," she said, crawling onto his lap. "A Sekirei must do anything for her Ashikabi… _anything."_

"Hopefully nothing illicit."

Both he and Matsu gulped and looked up in time to see Miya standing in the doorway with a tray of food in her hands.

"We weren't doing anything!" he yelped, shoving the pervert off him with a squawk.

"I know," she smiled. "I remembered you had your genin test today, so I wanted to make sure you had enough to eat before."

"Kakashi-sensei told us not to eat breakfast, though," he said as Miya set the tray down.

"Naruto," Miya's aura appeared full-force. "I worked very hard to prepare this nice meal for you and your Sekirei. It would be a shame for it go to waste…don't you agree?"

"R-r-right," he gulped, digging in right away. "Thanksh Miya-shaama."

"Don't talk with your mouth full," she chided. "And good luck."

 **XXX**

Sakura turned around, realizing she was in a familiar place. This same area that she had been drawn back to every night for the last month. A barren rocky beach on the edge of a blue ocean. The clouds above her were a dark gray, but no rain fell from them. Instead, there was a light fog that lay heavy over the island.

"Great," she sighed.

"You're back."

She turned around to see him, the only other person in on this rock. His form was still blurry, but she could make out a bit more of him now after a month. He was a tall man in a black outfit and geta sandals, which clacked on the gravel as he walked through the fog towards her.

"I never thought it would be someone like you," he said.

"You say that every time," she scowled. "Who are you?"

"And you say that every time," there was no mirth in his voice, as always. "I can see you've improved."

The first few times she had had this dream, she had dismissed it as nothing more than a combination of not enough sleep and stress over the genin exams. But the more she had it, the more real it seemed. Finally, she'd managed to talk to the person, but he still refused to say his name. So she'd tried all sorts of feminine tricks to get him to say his name, even acting out a scene she'd once read in a weird orange book she'd found hidden in her father's closet. All he'd done was call her "almost as weak as the pervert." She didn't know who he thought he was, talking to her, a sixteen-year-old girl full of feminine charm, like that. Sakura Haruno was neither weak nor a damn pervert. So she'd started working a little harder trying to figure out what the dreams meant. Sure she spent a little less time talking to Sasuke, but it would be worth it when she got to put this bastard in his place.

"You'll find me soon," the man said. "I can tell…"

"Where will you be?" she asked.

"Dunno," he seemed to shrug through the fog. "But I know you'll find me."

With that, the wind picked up, forcing her to shut her eyes. When she opened them again, she was staring at the ceiling of her bedroom.

"Dammit," she grunted, rolling out of bed and getting dressed. "Oh well…"

 **XXX**

 **Training Ground Three**

"So…"

Naruto and Sasuke stood at opposite ends of the training ground, eyes locked on to each other as Musubi stared on at the other two girls standing next to the Last Uchiha.

"You too, huh, teme?" he asked.

"Don't talk to Sasuke-sama like that, you blonde bastard!" snapped the pink-haired girl. "Take that back, or I'll mess you up!"

"Don't say that to Naruto-sama," Musubi said, grabbing her Ashikabi's arm and hugging it close to her breasts. Naruto fought back a nosebleed as he felt that Musubi was not wearing a bra.

"Or what, mega-boobs!"

"What does that mean?"

"Seriously? Are you stupid or something?"

"I'm not stupid!"

"Yes, you totally are!"

 **"** **Enough!"** Naruto and Sasuke both yelled at the same time, leaving Sasuke's other Sekirei to chuckle behind her claws as Benitsubasa turned bright red with embarrassment.

"Musubi, don't let this girl get to you," he said, squeezing her hand. "If she's with the teme, then she's on our team."

"Oh, okay," she nodded before bowing politely to Sasuke. "I'm Number 88, Musubi. Pleased to meet you, Sasuke-san."

"Hn," the Last Uchiha just grunted.

"Tch, I'm Number 104, Benitsubasa," the pinkette scowled.

"Number 104, Haihane," the silverette with the claws said in a bored tone. "So…when is your teacher getting here?"

"Who knows?" Naruto shrugged. "Sakura's not here either, ya know."

"Guess again," they all turned in time to see Sakura walking down the path that led to the village. "Morning, you…guys?"

Her eyes swept over the three beautiful women standing next to her teammates. "Who are they?"

"Uh…."

Both of them swallowed hard before racking their brains for an answer that wouldn't get them charged with treason.

"Uh, Musubi-chan is…my girlfriend!" Naruto exclaimed, throwing his arm around Musubi's shoulders. "Yeah, she's a really strong kunoichi and Hokage-jiji said it would be okay if she could train with us."

Sakura just looked at him, her green eyes tracing over Musubi's form. "Okay," she shrugged, giving him a good-natured smile. "I'm glad you found someone, Naruto. Now you'll stop pestering me for dates, right?"

"Uh, yeah, dattebayo," he said, thanking his lucky stars she didn't see through the ruse.

"We're Sasuke-sama's," Benitsubasa opened her mouth to probably copy Naruto's lie before her Ashikabi slapped a hand in front of her mouth.

"They're my training partners," he scowled. "The Hokage also gave them permission to be here."

Sakura shrugged and sat down against a tree. "Whatever," she said, pulling out another book on theoretical jutsu.

 _Okay, something weird is going on now,_ Naruto thought, watching Sasuke try to get Benitsubasa to stop clinging to him and Sakura just sit there ignoring the fact that another girl was trying to flirt with Sasuke.

His ears twitched and he turned around to see two girls walking into the training ground with shopping bags in their hands and bright red blushes on their faces. They looked like twins, although one of them had a larger bust than the others. They were wearing bright and French frilly maid outfits, one pink and the other purple, that showed off a lot of their cleavage and legs. Plus, their skirts were so short he swore he could catch a glimpse of purple and pink panties as the wind blew by.

"Uh…who are you?" he asked.

"Tsk…we're your Jonin-sensei's… _maids_ ," the one in purple spat out that word as if it were poison.

"He's running a bit late," the one in the pink said, trying to stifle the embarrassment crossing over her cheeks. "So…he asked us…to get your lunch ready for him."

"Eh?" was the combined response from the three genin and their Sekirei.

"Oi! I remember you now!" Benitsubasa shouted, jumping forwards and pointing at the twins. "You're those lightning bitches that chased us a few days ago!"

"Oh yeah," the purple one smirked. "I remember you now too…wanna go again, flat-chest?"

"WHAT DID YOU CALL ME!?" Benitsubasa's face turned bright scarlet red and she charged forwards. "I'M GONNA GRIND YOU TO DUST!"

Before she could even get close to the twins, a cloud of smoke burst from the ground in front of her. When it cleared, it revealed Kakashi standing there with his book in one hand and Benitsubasa's fist in the other.

"Yo!" he called, looking over his shoulder at the twins with a perverse giggle. "I see you met my maids."

"Kakashi, you bastard!" the purple one shouted, covering her body with her arms. "It's bad enough you make us wear these things as punishment, but in front of kids!"

"Well, you know the rules," he said, flipping a page in his book. "Disobey my orders and it's a maid costume for a day. Touch my book and it's something worse."

"Uh, Kakashi-sensei, these are your birds?" Naruto asked. "They're kinda weird, dattebayo."

"What did you call us?"

"Yes, Naruto," he smiled. "They'll also be helping me with your test. Hibiki, Hikari, if you wouldn't mind?"

"Right," the pink one said, walking over to the training post and pulling out two lunchboxes and an alarm clock and setting one on each of the three posts

"The rules of this test are simple," he said, pulling out a pair of bells from his pouch. "The three of you have one hour to take these bells from me. Naruto and Sasuke's partners can help you. Those who get a bell pass the test…those who don't go back to the academy."

"Why are there only two bells?" Naruto asked, scowling. "Don't shinobi operate in teams of four? We'd be one man short."

"I'm glad you said that," Kakashi said. "You see; this test is supposed to weed out the week in the shinobi crop. Those who can get a bell deserve to call themselves Konoha shinobi. Those who don't simply aren't strong enough. We're going to see who that person is."

Sasuke's eyes narrowed and his hands clenched into fists. There was no way he could fail this now. _One step closer to my goal._

Sakura stood up and cracked her knuckles. This would be a perfect opportunity to prove she wasn't some weakling like the guy in her dreams said. _Watch out, cause here I come, Kakashi-sensei._

Naruto scowled and kept his eyes trained on the jonin. Matsu had helped him prepare for the exam, as well as helped him come up with a strategy to beat it. But he couldn't help but feel uneasy about this. _Something's wrong here_ , he thought. _Gotta be careful._

"Alright then, you all look ready," Kakashi said, turning a page in his book as he pressed the button on the alarm clock. "When the clock goes off, the test is over and you return to these posts, bell or not. Ready? GO!"

"Hibiki!" Hikari smirked as lightning danced across her forearm.

"Got it," the younger twin nodded as she grabbed her sister's hand. **"Thunder Needles!"**

Arcs of purple lightning jumped from their bodies and rolled across the training ground right at them, ripping up chunks of earth as they went. The three genin and three Sekirei jumped away as the lightning crashed into the ground where they had been standing, kicking up a thick cloud of smoke.

"Did we get 'em?" Hikari asked, jumping over to Kakashi.

"No, they got away," Hibiki pouted. "Kakashi, can we use our norito?"

"Hmm…no, that would be overkill," he said. "Go with the usual. Let's test them a bit."

"Right," both twins nodded as they jumped away into the woods, giving him a perfect panty shot.

 _I really am lucky, aren't I?_ he giggled before turning back to his book.

 **XXX**

"Man, that was close," Naruto panted, looking down at the crater the Lightning Twins had just made.

"Wow, they're strong," Musubi grinned. "Can we fight them now, Naruto-sama?"

"Not yet, but we will," he nodded. "Do you remember the plan?"

"Yep!" she smiled. "Just leave it to me!"

"Okay, let's go!" he smirked. **"Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!"**

Six clones poofed into existence and two of them jumped off in different directions. He nodded to the remaining four and they all jumped right ahead towards Kakashi, who hadn't moved since the start of the exam.

"A frontal assault?" he said, not looking up from his book. "Not a very good idea, Naruto."

He just smirked as the four clones broke off into two groups and began flanking the jonin while he and Musubi jumped ahead. "Now, Musubi-chan!"

"Hai!" she chirped, dashing ahead and grabbing him by the back of his shirt. "Hyaaaaah!"

She turned her body three hundred and sixty degrees around before launching him forwards towards Kakashi so fast he felt his cheeks rippling from the wind force. Kakashi's eye widened in surprise as he flew forwards.

"Nice, but not quick enough," he said, snatching him out of the air with one hand and twisting his hand behind his back. "Interesting choice of strategy, using Musubi to throw you at be faster than I could counterattack."

"Heh," he chuckled. "Who said I was done?"

He nodded to one of the clones on the side, watching it smirk and make the ram seal. With a puff of smoke, he substituted with it, leaving the clone in Kakashi's grip. Once he was free, he made the tiger seal and grinned.

"Katsu!"

The clone in Kakashi's grip glowed bright before detonating. The shockwave kicked up a bunch of dust, which blocked his view of the spiky-haired jonin. As soon as he was out of sight, he signaled to Musubi. She nodded and jumped away into the trees, leaving him to look at the spot where Kakashi had been standing. The last of the smoke cleared…revealing crater, but no Kakashi.

"What?"

"Below you."

A pair of hands burst out of the ground, grabbing his ankles and dragging him down into the earth.

"Smart, Naruto," Kakashi eye-smiled as he popped from the ground next to him. "Hokage-sama had told me you knew the **Bunshin Daibakuha** , but I didn't expect you to be able to use it to that degree."

"Heh, thanks, Kakashi-sensei," he grinned at the praise. "But remember…I made _four_ clones."

He waited for the sensation of the clone switching with him…but nothing happened.

"While it is destructive, that jutsu has a fatal flaw," Kakashi said, looking down at him. "It kicks up a large cloud of dust that an enemy can use to their advantage. It was pretty easy to hunt down your clones while you couldn't see me."

"Aw, man," he pouted. "I thought I had you."

"You almost did," he chuckled, playfully ruffling the blonde's hair. "Well, sit tight. I'll dig you out when the test is over."

With that, he stood up and Shunshined away. As soon as he was gone, a foxy grin crept over the blonde's face.

"It ain't gonna be over that fast, Kakashi-sensei," he smirked as Musubi reappeared and pulled him out of the hole. "Did you do it?"

"Hai!" she chirped, showing him the results of his idea.

"Awesome! Now for part two," he grinned, jumping back into the trees with Musubi on his heels.

 **XXX**

"Come on, slowpokes!" Haihane chuckled as she zipped through the trees with easy. "You too, small boobs!"

"Dammit, Haihane!" Benitsubasa huffed as she, Sasuke, and Sakura charged away from the clearing. Behind them, bolts of purple lightning lashed through the trees as the Twins chased them.

 _We're not gonna last long,_ Sasuke noted as he saw Sakura panting hard as she ran. _Those two…they're strong. The longer we run, the harder it'll be to fight. Unless…_

"Benitsubasa!" he called. "Break the ground!"

"Huh? Okay!" she said as a bloodthirsty grin spread across her face.

She turned around and charged chakra into her fist, leaping high into the air. **"Extreme Quake!"** she yelled, punching the ground hard.

The earth ruptured under the force of her blow, sending blocks of stone around in all different directions and knocking over all the trees in a twenty-foot radius. A dust cloud kicked up from the wind force of her punch, blocking their view of the Twins.

"Shit! Hikari!" Hibiki skidded to a stop just before an eight-foot block of stone crashed into her.

"Dammit!" the older twin cursed as the smoke cleared, revealing that they had escaped. "Spread out and find them!"

"Meet back at Kakashi?" Hibiki asked.

"Right," Hikari nodded before they separated.

Sasuke smirked from behind a tree a few yards away from them, Benitsubasa gripped close to his chest to keep her from being seen.

"They fell for it," he smirked, watching as Haihane jumped back with Sakura following her.

"Good plan," Sakura panted. "Dammit…I gotta catch my breath."

"Right," he nodded. He was also a bit worn out from that chase. "The dobe's probably back at the clearing anyway."

"Should we go get him, Sasuke?" Haihane asked.

"No need," they all looked as two Narutos jumped down from the trees. "Boss has Kakashi-sensei occupied for now. He sent us to tell you he's got a plan to get those bells."

"Why should we trust you?" Benitsubasa snapped. "With Haihane and I, Sasuke-sama can take out that scarecrow bastard easily."

"Yeah, but those twins are going to be a problem," Sakura piped up. "That seal-less lightning jutsu will be a problem. Plus, there are two of them and they work together really well."

"That's why Boss needs you," said the other clone. "He and Musubi-chan can't handle Hibiki and Hikari plus Kakashi. He needs your help."

Sasuke sighed. "Fine, dobe," he scowled. "What do you need?"

Both clones gave a foxy grin as they explained the plan.

 **XXX**

"They're coming," Kakashi said, feeling Hibiki and Hikari tense as a wave of chakra washed over them. "Get ready."

Without warning, Sasuke suddenly burst from the treetops, jumping high above them as he quickly went through hand seals. **"Katon: Gokakyu no Jutsu!"**

A large fireball flew from his lips down towards them. Hibiki and Hikari were forced to separate as the flame came close to hitting them, leaving him to charge forwards towards the Last Uchiha.

"Now!"

With a blur, Musubi and Benitsubasa charged Hikari from both sides, the former lashing out with a fearsome right hook to the shoulder while the later drove her knee into the older twin's gut. Hikari coughed hard from the blow and slumped to the ground wheezing as Musubi flipped her onto her knees in a tight arm bar. At the same time, Haihane and Sakura jumped out of the bushes and began slashing at Hibiki with claws and kuni. The younger twin quickly danced backwards out of range…and straight into a swarm of Naruto clones that latched onto her arms and legs, pinning her in place.

"Don't move, sensei!" the real Naruto called as he held the Tiger seal. "Give us the bells."

He looked over at his Sekirei, one of whom was coughing hard in the grip of two fist-types while the other was smothered in exploding clones. Sasuke, Sakura, and Haihane had meanwhile flanked him on each side, trapping him inside a four-point star formation.

 _Such teamwork,_ he mentally smiled. _They split me from Hibiki and Hikari to use them as hostages. Sasuke's fireball grabbed my attention long enough for Sakura and their Sekirei to get the drop on them. Oh well…time's almost up._

"Good show, you guys," he eye-smiled with a thumbs-up. "But you're out of time."

He waited ten seconds for the bell to ring…when it didn't, he blinked.

"Looking for this?" Naruto grinned, pulling out the mangled remains of the alarm clock from behind his back.

"So that's why you had Musubi run off when we first fought," he smiled under his mask.

"Yep. Until the clock rings, the test is active," he smirked. "Those were your exact words, sensei."

He chuckled. "Well done…all of you," he said, taking the bells and throwing them to Naruto. "But there are still only two bells and three genin. One of you will have to go back."

"Yeah…me," he said, throwing the bells to Sasuke and Sakura. "You guys were always better than I was in the academy. I guess if I wanna be a ninja, I gotta have a better grasp on the basics, ya know."

"No," Sakura said, throwing her bell back to him. "You and Sasuke were the real minds behind this, Naruto. I'm not really strong enough to get through this as I am now. I'll go back and get stronger, so I won't drag you guys down anymore."

"Enough," he said, holding his hand up before Naruto spoke again. "You guys pass."

"Huh?"

"Answer this," he said. "What sets you three apart from a missing-nin?"

"We're stronger," Sasuke said.

"Our equipment is better," Sakura said.

"We don't have bounties, dattebayo?" Naruto scratched his chin.

"You can work together," he smiled. "A missing nin can't trust anyone and has to rely only on himself. You three have shown that you can work together well enough to force me into a hostage situation. Yes, it helps if you're well-equipped or know powerful ninjutsu…but if you mess up, you'll always have your teammates to help you back up."

He gave them a thumbs up. "As of now, we are Team Seven," he said. "I look forwards to working with you."

"YES, DATTEBAYO!" Naruto whooped, hugging Musubi. "We did it, Musubi-chan!"

"We won, Naruto-sama," she laughed, hugging him back. "Musubi is happy!"

"Ack…bones…breaking," he wheezed out as Musubi's titanic strength made his ribs creak.

"Hmph, you two did good," Sasuke nodded at Benitsubasa and Haihane with the ghost of a smile on his face.

"E-eh? W-well of course we did," Benitsubasa blushed as she sided up close to him. "We're _your_ partners, Sasuke-sama…we would never let you down."

"Yeah," Haihane smirked.

Sakura just smiled and sat down against a tree, watching her teammates and their 'partners.'

"Take the next day off to train and enjoy yourselves," Kakashi said as Hibiki and Hikari walked to his side. "Come Wednesday, we start our missions."

And he vanished in a swirl of leaves.

"Come on, Musubi-chan, let's go!" he cheered. "Ichiraku's, here we come!"

"Yay, food!" she beamed as she ran off after her Ashikabi.

"Sasuke-sama, can we go eat too?" Benitsubasa asked, looking up at her Ashikabi with hopeful eyes.

He sighed. Normally if a girl asked him to lunch, he would shoot them down right away and go home. But his Sekirei were different. They were actually useful in a battle. He had to admit, if they hadn't helped with Naruto's plan, they might have lost easily. So he had to treat them differently than those annoying fangirls.

"Fine," he grunted, shoving his hands in his pockets and walking towards the village, watching as both his Sekirei's faces lit up.

 **XXX**

 **That Evening**

"We're back!" Naruto called as he and Musubi stepped into the living room at Maison Izumo.

"Welcome home," Miya smiled as she walked out of the kitchen. "I assume you did well?"

"Yep! We passed!" he laughed, wrapping his arm around Musubi's waist.

"Naruto-sama was so cool!" she chirped, hugging him back.

"Ufufufu, so the strategy worked, Naru-tan?" Matsu chuckled as she walked downstairs.

He nodded. "The exploding clone switch worked once, but he caught on and destroyed them before I could do it again," he said. "But destroying the timer really helped out."

"Matsu, you told him what to do?" Miya asked. "You do know that providing information to a genin about their exams is cheating."

"Miya-tan, Matsu didn't tell Naru-tan what to do," the perverted Sekirei said. "Matsu only gave her Ashikabi a way to use his clones. She didn't say anything about destroying a clock."

"She's right, Miya," Naruto said. "Matsu told me about how I could use my clones as suicide clones with the substitution, but the clock was all my idea."

"Naruto-sama is really smart," Musubi nodded. "But Matsu-san is also smart."

He blushed at the compliment as Miya relaxed. "Well in that case, good for you," she smiled.

"Thanks," he said. "I'm gonna take a bath now…I kinda stink."

"I agree," she said. "Why don't you rest for a bit while I run the bath for you."

"Okay. Thanks Miya," he smiled. "Come on, Musubi-chan, let's go."

"Coming!"

Miya smiled as she watched the blonde and his Sekirei head upstairs before turning to Matsu.

"What do you think?"

"About Naruto?" the red head asked, her childish demeanor vanishing. "As an Ashikabi, he has amazing potential. Being near him is…intoxicating if I had to pick a word. His presence will no doubt draw other Sekirei to him, not to mention the strength of his chakra."

"And as a Shinobi?"

"He'll be lethal with the right training," she said. "I swear; it's like watching a young Minato train sometimes…he's still a bit dense, though."

"Will you teach him seals?"

"I'll try my hardest," she said. "He may not have the same affinity for them as Minato did, but I can teach him the basics. Sensei might be able to do it better than I could."

"I will not have Naruto be corrupted the same as you were," she scowled.

"Fine, fine," the red head grinned sheepishly. "Will you train him too?"

"You know I put up my blade for good," she said, walking back towards the kitchen.

"But that dosen't mean you can't help him."

"Perhaps," she said. "But he seems to be doing will with you and Musubi. I will not interfere with his growth…besides."

She turned her gaze towards the Hokage Mountain, a sad smile gracing her features. "Children should not have to grow up so fast…. don't you agree?"

 **XXX**

 **Mizu no Kuni**

A lone woman stood in a misty clearing, staring up at the sky, her long ashen hair swaying in the breeze. She had a content smile on her face as she looked up at the overcast sky, seeing flashes of lightning in the distance. She was a beautiful woman, just around her late teens/early twenties. Her hair was done up in a simply ponytail with her bangs lazily hanging around her face and neck. Her clothes were very simple: a black leather top and miniskirt with knee-high boots, fingerless gloves sitting on her hands. Her face had many vulpine qualities to it, giving her a sultry but yet crafty, almost plotting look as she smiled. However, all of these things were insignificant when you considered her surroundings.

Bodies were strewn back and forth across the clearing, each of them bearing long slashes from the woman's blade. Men, women, and even some who were barely in their teens all littered the rocky ground, their blood covering the soil. Some of them bore the symbol of Kirigakure while others had the insignia of the Bloodline Rebellion stamped across their flak armor. She didn't care about symbols though. All that mattered was the fight.

"Ah," she sighed, flicking the crimson liquid off her blade before returning it to her sheathe. "That was almost boring."

She continued to stare at the sky, her gray eyes sparkling with a malicious light as the rain began to fall over the battlefield.

"Is there no one who can challenge me now?" she pondered, walking away from the carnage. "Fufufu…perhaps I should pay _her_ a visit now?"

As she walked away, one of her sleeves rolled back a tiny bit, showing a small, faded scar on the back of her right wrist. She paused and looked down at it for a moment, remembering a young red-haired woman with kind purple eyes smiling down at her as she bandaged the cut for her. She remembered the sword that she had tried to play with as a child and how she had nicked herself and how that woman had taken time to show her how to properly wield it.

 _What would she think of me now?_ She wondered, looking down on the only mark she still bore from that place.

She shook her head, teeth gnashing as she unsheathed her blade and struck out at a nearby tree, slicing it in two with a single stroke.

 _Reminiscing now, Karasuba?_ She chuckled to herself. _How weak of you._

Feeling her bloodlust return, she set her sights to the west. Kiri-nin were too easy for her now. They were sloppy from their war and it impeded how much fun they could provide her. She needed fresh prey…and she needed it soon. Reaching into her pocket, she pulled out a tattered copy of the Shinobi Bingo Book. She was no bounty hunter…money had little meaning to her. But it did tell her who she could kill without revealing herself to the world. She would, in time…but not yet.

"Ah, you look interesting," she purred, marking the page of a pasty-faced Kumo missing-nin. "Let's see if you can… _entertain_ me."


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 5

 **What is going on, guys? MickDunD here with the** ** _LAST_** **update to Ashikabi of the Leaf.**

 **Just kidding!**

 **Seriously, I'd never just leave you all hanging like that. I do have finals coming, so I have to start cracking the books hard.**

 **The reviews have been for the most part, AMAZING! Seriously, all you good people out there, give yourself a good pat on the back or a thumbs-up. You deserve it. Flamers, you can go choke.**

 **Enjoy and all hail the Bitter and Inefficient Secretary!**

 **One Week Later**

"GAH, THIS IS BORING!"

"Naruto, shut up, we all know this is boring!" Sakura snapped as she tugged a weed out of a flower bed.

"Yeah, but."

"We. All. Know.," she said, her eyes promising pain if he continued on with this path.

He pouted, throwing a handful of weeds into the bin next to him. Kakashi watched from under the shade of a nearby tree, his eye moving back and forth between his genin and the open book in his hand. This was their twentieth D-rank mission around the village and he had to say, it was fun watching his team struggle like they did. Plus, he had decided to allow Hibiki and Hikari to spar with the Musubi and Sasuke's two birds to make sure they had enough time to grow as a team. Musubi and Benitsubasa were all too eager to scrap with the twins every chance they got. Haihane on the other hand would usually ditch them to go read a manga or sleep in the sun. Her fighting style seemed to revolve mostly around speed anyway, which is something he didn't have experience with teaching. Perhaps Guy would be willing to help her out? He allowed himself a chuckle, picturing his team's Sekirei in Guy's green "outfits of youth."

 _Perhaps that could be the Twin's punishment for a while?_ He laughed, then picturing his temperamental Sekirei flushed and embarrassed while wearing those clothes.

"Dobe's right, this is boring," Sasuke grunted, wiping his forehead.

"Yeah, we should be out doing cool stuff," the blonde pouted. "Ninjas don't do chores."

"Kakashi-sensei, we _have_ been doing this stuff for a while," Sakura sighed, wiping her dirty hands off on her dress. "Can't we please have a more difficult mission?"

"Hmm…," the jonin didn't even look up from his book. "I suppose you three are strong enough…however, you'll have to get Hokage-sama to assign the mission to you. In the end, it's his decision."

 **XXX**

"Absolutely not."

"Aw, come on Iruka-sensei!" Naruto pouted towards his older brother figure. "We've been doing these stupid D-ranks for a week now and they suck!"

"Language, Naruto," Hiruzen chided the blonde. "But Iruka is right. Genin such as yourself are too inexperienced to handle anything higher than a D-rank now. And besides, these missions do help the village's economy."

"But they're chores, jiji," he pouted. "If I wanted to do chores, then I'd just stay at Maison Izumo all day. That way I get lunch out of the deal too, dattebayo."

Hiruzen chuckled. "Kakashi, your thoughts?"

"Well…they have shown some improvement," the lanky jonin said with a casual shrug. "I'm confident they would be able to handle themselves on a simple C-rank…provided it was nothing to dangerous."

"I see," he hummed. "Iruka, I know you have your own reservations regarding these three…but we must let them grow at their own rates. Therefore, I am assigning Team Seven a C-ranked mission."

"Sweet!" Naruto grinned. "What is it? Are we gonna fight someone strong?"

"Hopefully not," Hiruzen said. "It is a simple C-rank escort mission."

He nodded and Iruka opened to door. In stepped a young woman with long blue-colored hair that ran down her back with two long bangs that framed her face. She wore a short-sleeved pink shirt with the end of the sleeves and the collar colored red, with a long blue skirt over her legs

"Hello," she said, giving a polite bow. "My name is Tsunami. I will be your client for this mission."

"Tsunami-san is the daughter of a skilled bridge builder in Nami no Kuni," Hiruzen explained. "Your mission will be to ensure she reaches her home safely."

"Leave it to us!" Naruto grinned, giving Tsunami a thumbs up.

She giggled and smiled at him. "I am in your care, shinobi-san."

"Alright then team," Kakashi said. "We'll leave bright and early tomorrow morning, so be at the village gate by seven. Take the rest of the day off to prepare."

"Right!" the three genin nodded before leaving, Tsunami following them to go back to her hotel. Hiruzen discretely twitched his right index finger as Kakashi was turning around to leave before looking at Iruka.

"Iruka, I think I may have left the dossier for Team Guy's next mission in my office upstairs," he said. "Would you mind getting it for me? I'm afraid these old bones don't take kindly to stairs anymore."

"No problem, Hokage-sama," the scarred chunin nodded before leaving.

"No offense, Hokage-sama," Kakashi said as soon as they were alone, "but your 'old bones' could level more than half the village if you wanted to."

"Deception _is_ the most vital of the Shinobi skills, Kakashi," he chuckled. "But more importantly, I wanted to warn you about your upcoming mission."

"It's Mutsu, isn't it?"

"What else would it be?" he sighed. "Kakashi Hatake…I hereby order you to not search for Sekirei 05 in any way, shape, or form for the duration of this mission."

"…may I at least ask why?" Kakashi said after a moment's pause.

"Because you'll have three genin with you," he sighed. "Not to mention five Sekirei and a paying client. Mutsu may not have been the most active of the five, but you of all people should remember what happened when he got serious."

"Right," Kakashi suppressed a wince as he remembered the last time he and Mutsu had gone all out in a spar. "What happens if we simply run into each other on the road?"

"You are to leave immediately," Hiruzen said. "Even if it takes you longer to complete the mission, you are to leave immediately and avoid all further contact with Mutsu."

"…fine," he sighed. "I have to say, Hokage-sama, I'm not happy with these orders."

"I didn't expect you to be," Hiruzen said. "But the safety of those children is paramount. Mutsu may not remember who Naruto really is at all and he certainly won't care who Sasuke is if a fight starts. Now get going. Iruka will be here in three seconds."

Kakashi nodded and vanished in a puff of smoke as the door opened behind the desk.

"Here it is, Hokage-sama," Iruka said as he passed the scroll over to the aged Hokage.

"Ah, thank you," he smiled, lighting his pipe. "Send in Team Guy now."

 **XXX**

"A C-rank already?" Miya asked, watching the blonde and his Sekirei pack.

"Yeah, we're totally gonna kick ass," he grinned. "Musubi-chan, don't forget to pack the tent in case we sleep outside, dattebayo."

"Okay, Naruto-sama," she smiled.

"Are you sure you're ready for a mission like this?" Miya asked, trying to hide her concern. "Most genin don't take C-ranks until they have at least three months of training under their belts."

"Miya, don't worry about it," he gave a foxish pout. "I'm a super-awesome ninja already, ya know? I'm not gonna get hurt on a stupid C-rank escort mission."

She felt herself smile despite herself. Naruto's perpetual optimism always seemed to infect everyone around him.

"In that case, when you are finished packing, I want to show you something," she said. "Meet me in the backyard when you're done."

"Okay," he smiled turning back to his backpack to finish packing.

"Ufufufu, Naru-tan," he whipped around to see Matsu standing off to the side of the room with a pair of his boxers in her hands and a bit of drool running down her cheek. "Matsu always pictured you as a boxer's man."

"What's a boxer's man?" Musubi asked. "Is that like modesty? Landlady-sama was teaching me a bit about that earlier…but I still don't get it…"

"Matsu!" Naruto snapped, red in the face, as he grabbed his underwear back from the 'Shameless Sekirei" as Miya had called her. "Hands off!"

"Are you sure about that, Naru-tan?" the redhead asked with a husky voice and as her glasses shined in the light. "Matsu can be very _hands on_ if you want her to be. Ufufufufu~."

"Hands on?" Musubi cocked her head. "Like this?"

She stood up and placed her hand on Naruto's heart. Matsu just sweatdropped at the brunette's naivety.

"Anyway," Naruto piped up, eager to change the topic. "Matsu, aren't you going to be coming with us? Where's your backpack?"

"Uh…well, about that," Matsu laughed nervously. "Matsu can't leave Maison Izumo…ever."

"Eh? Why?"

"Let's just say I made a very powerful enemy a long time ago," she said. "And he's the type who'll kidnap me and use me for not-nice experiments. Miya-tan is the only one who can protect me from him."

"Why don't you go to Hokage-jiji?" Musubi asked. "He's a nice old man. I'm sure he wouldn't mind helping you out."

(Out in the Hokage Tower, Hiruzen sneezed, causing the carefully-organized stack of paperwork on his desk to go flying everywhere.)

"Like I said. If I go outside the inn at all, I could be found," she said. "Matsu knows you want to help, Naru-tan, but please for my sake, keep this quiet."

"…okay," he sighed with a hard look on his face. "But it's not right for you to have to stay here all the time like a prisoner."

"Eh, I'm used to it," she said. "Like I told you before, brain-types aren't suited for heavy fighting. We're more…delicate than combat-types like Musubi-tan."

"But how will you be able to help Naruto-sama if you can't fight?" Musubi asked.

"I may not be able to fight," Matsu grinned. "But I am an excellent planner. I've never lost a game of strategy once in my life. Plus, I can teach Naru-tan some better jutsu and even sealing techniques."

"Oh! I get it," Musubi beamed. "So Matsu-san isn't just a worthless pervert like Landlady-sama says."

Matsu face-faulted as Naruto laughed. "So mean…" she moaned.

"Well, I'm leaving soon, Matsu," he said. "So we'll just have to start training when I get back."

"I figured as much," the redhead smiled, rummaging around between her breasts again. "Which is why I prepared these."

She pulled out three slips of paper, not unlike the one she had used on Musubi a few days ago. However, the kanji on each of the slips were different.

"These sealing tags will probably be of some help, Naru-tan," she said. "These two here are of the same family as the one I used to paralyze Musubi-tan. Just slap it on their body and push your chakra into it to activate it. Although unlike the one I used on Musubi-tan, these two freeze the body in place rather than making it go limp."

"Whoa, cool!" he beamed like a kid on Christmas. "What about this one?"

"This one is a special one," Matsu had a prideful smug on her face, crossing her arms as she basked in the glory of her own genius. "That's a Chakra Absorption Seal. It basically will absorb the chakra of any jutsu up to a B-ranked technique. Like if I was to use this on your exploding clone, it would suck away the chakra from the blast."

"So this thing cancels jutsu?" Naruto was practically salivating at the idea of being able to show up Sasuke by absorbing his Fireball Jutsu.

"Yes, but you have to be careful with it," Matsu warned, suddenly getting serious. "The seal will only absorb a certain amount of chakra before it shuts down. If you try to absorb anything over a B-rank, it'll only absorb that much chakra. Which means you'll still get hit by the remaining part of the jutsu, so be careful how you use it."

"I will," he nodded, hugging the redheaded Sekirei. "Thanks a million for this, Matsu."

"Aw, Naru-tan," she giggled as her Ashikabi leaned back and kissed her right on the lips, letting her wings spread around the room. "Wow…Naru-tan."

"Did I do that wrong?" he asked.

"No, no, Matsu loved it," she said. "I just wasn't expecting you to be so…forward."

"Well I asked Kakashi-sensei for some tips about being a good Ashikabi," he said, "and he told me the most important part of being an Ashikabi was showing your Sekirei how much you love and appreciate them."

(Across Konoha, Kakashi, who was laying in his bed with a sweaty and naked Hibiki and Hikari fast asleep at his sides, their arms and legs wrapped around his own, their maid outfits tossed carelessly around the room along with his own clothes, sneezed.)

"So I figure I gotta show you and any other Sekirei I wing how much I care about you," he finished with a smile.

"Mou~, Naruto-sama, Musubi wants a kiss too," the fist-type pouted.

"Sure thing, Musubi-chan," he smiled, hugging her close to his chest and gently putting a hand behind her neck, pulling her in close. He tilted his head a little bit just as their lips gently touched. The busty shrine maiden gave a cute, soft moan into her Ashikabi's mouth, her hands automatically reaching up and running through his blonde locks. As if it was an instinctive Sekirei nature, her lips parted and she began to add her tongue into the mix, starting a slow, but passionate dance inside his mouth. Her heart began to beat faster and faster inside her chest as a strange warmth began to blossom in her core. To her disappointment, he pulled back shortly afterwards, giving her one last peck before standing up.

"Okay, Musubi-chan can you finish packing? I gotta go see Miya," he said.

"Of course!" she chirped. "Leave it to me."

"Awesome," he smiled. "Later, Matsu-chan."

He walked outside of the room and blinked at what he saw. "Oh…hey, Uzume."

 **XXX**

Uzume had just woken up from a long nap and was getting ready to hit the bath when she had heard those words.

 _So I figure I gotta show you and any other Sekirei I wing how much I care about you_.

She stopped right in her tracks outside of Naruto's room as those words hit her ears. She turned her head and peaked through a small crack in the door, watching as Naruto embraced Musubi and kissed her, pink wings of light flaring out behind her as Matsu just watched with her usual pervy expression. Her heart pounded loudly in her ears, her panties getting soaked by the strength of her reaction. It wouldn't take much to make it go away…. all she had to do was step through that door. Then this annoying ache in her body would leave forever.

A memory flashed across her mind's eye. A dark room in an underground facility. She remembered how the leather straps bit into her skin and how the lumpy foam mattress rubbed her bare back. Needles and vials were all around her…and he was there too. Round glasses that shone in the light of the surgical lamp, a cruel smile stretching across his lips as he leaned close to her, the syringe gripped in his hand.

 _"_ _I'm an Ashikabi too."_

She gasped out as the memory faded, leaving her soaked in a mixture of cold sweat and her own arousal. She gritted her teeth and felt her powers respond to her anger, a length of white cloth threatening to burst from her sleeve and lash around the hallway. That man…she hated him. She hated what he had done to her back before her escape. She'd kill him if she got the chance, but until then, she had to get away from Naruto or she'd lose her mind.

"Oh…hey Uzume."

She blinked and realized he was standing right in front of her, a concerned expression on his face.

"Hey, bro!" she smiled, hiding her true feelings under her carefully crafted mask. "I heard you and your team are going on a C-rank. That must be cool, huh?"

"Oh yeah!" he grinned. "It's just an escort mission, so we'll only be gone for a few days or so, but it's so awesome we're gonna see the world!"

"Yeah, it's pretty cool," she giggled at his enthusiasm. "You're gonna have fun, trust me."

Her body was screaming at her to do something. Grab him, throw him against the wall and wing herself, drag him back to her room, gag him, and relieve the ache in her body. He was handsome, even at a young age. There was no doubt he would love her like Musubi and Matsu…so what was stopping her?

The image of that man in the lab flashed across her eyes.

 _I can't,_ she said, stepping backwards. _I'm…no, I can't risk it…not again._

"Well, I'm gonna take a bath," she said, ruffling his hair with one hand before walking away. "Good luck on your mission, Naruto."

"Uzume?"

She looked back.

"Are you feeling okay?" he asked, his eyes showing concern. "You don't look so good."

She smiled a painfully fake smile. "I'm great," she said. "Later, bro."

 **XXX**

"Yo, Miya!"

She turned around and watched the Naruto rushed out the back door and into the yard.

"What did you need to tell me?" he asked.

"Get into your fighting stance," she said.

"Huh?"

"Show me how you normally start a spar," she said. "I just want to see your form."

"Uh…okay," he said, settling into his usual brawler stance.

Miya's lips thinned a bit as she saw his stance. "You have a lot of openings," she said. "Your feet are too close together as well. You probably won't do well in a straight-up fight against a seasoned ninja."

"But I beat Mizuki with this style," he said.

"With your Shadow Clones, right?" she said. "You can't always rely on numbers, Naruto. Someone like Kakashi or another jonin will easily overwhelm you. Here, let me help you."

She stepped forwards and began adjusting his stance. She pushed his right arm closer against his side and extended his left fist another three inches, directing them both five inches below his chin. Then she widened his stance, pushing his right foot three inches back and bending his knee about five degrees more, staggering his stance in total.

"Try this," she smiled, backing up and then lashing out at him with maybe three percent of her total power behind her punch.

His eyes widened and he barely had enough time to jerk his left arm up to block her strike, the force of the punch forcing him back a bit.

"Ow," he winced, rubbing his forearm. "Miya, why'd you hit me?"

"To see if you could adapt to this style," she said, looking him over once more. "It looks like you can keep to the form well enough…I think you'll be able to pull it off well enough. Just fall back to this position whenever you are finished with an attack and you'll be able to defend well enough."

"Ya didn't have to hit so damn hard," he mumbled, eliciting a chop to the head from the purple-haired beauty.

"Language," she chided. "Now I believe your sensei was going to wait for you at the gates?"

"Oh right!" the blonde's eyes widened as he hastily threw his arms around her waist in a short hug before dashing into the house. "Thanks for the lesson, Miya! See you in a few days!"

She smiled, watching as Naruto and Musubi charged out the front door with grins on their faces.

 _Ah…to be young,_ she chuckled to herself as she walked back inside and headed up to her room.

Her bedroom was nothing special. It wasn't the largest room in the house, nor was it the smallest. All it consisted of was a single dresser, closet, and large futon big enough for a few people. She walked over to the closet and opened it, revealing a surprisingly large space inside. No casual clothes hung in here. This place was for her memories…at least the good ones.

An elegant shrine-like setup occupied the majority of the closet, with some old shinobi armor folded neatly to the side while a beautifully crafted katana bearing an orange whirlpool mark on the hilt and a tri-pronged kunai with a sealing tag around the grip hung from the far side of the closet. Her own blade, a traditional katana in a black sheath rested below them. Judging from the coating of dust on the scabbard, it had not seen the light of day in years. On the shrine itself were a series of photographs. They were all moments in her life that she had truly felt happy, despite the chaos and bloodshed she had seen (and helped cause). One picture in particular caught her eye. It was very old, but it was one of her happiest memories. There were nine people in the photo: five adults and four children. One of the adults was her, seated next to a red-haired woman with kind violet eyes and a cheeky grin. Next to the woman was a tall blonde man with sky blue irises and a white haori, his arm wrapped around the woman's shoulders as he gave her a happy smile. To his left, there was an older man with spiky white hair and kabuki-style face paint trying to embrace a younger blonde woman with a purple diamond mark on her forehead, a goofy grin decorating his face as the woman held him at bay with an annoyed smile on her own lips.

In front of them all were the four children, all around the age of ten. One of them was Matsu, dressed in a pink sundress with a smaller size of her current glasses with an orange book partially hidden behind her back. Next to her was a young girl with long blackish-purple hair tied up with a delicate ribbon. She wore a very thin Chinese dress and a relaxed smile on her delicate features. A large can of soda was clutched in her hand. Next to that girl was a taller girl with ashen hair pulled back in a ponytail. She had a more mischievous grin on her face, making her look foxish and untamable. She wore a black and white tracksuit with fingerless gloves, a long kunai gripped in her right hand. Lastly was a young man with ashen-blonde hair and an orange scarf, sitting directly under the blonde man with a bored look on his face. The writing on the photo was smudged and faded, but it was still readable.

"First successful mission to land of Tea. Team Miya."

She sighed and the image, her fingers carefully tracing over the faces of the children… _her_ children. Thanks to their accelerated growth rates, they all probably looked much different than when she last saw them. Most of them must look at least twenty now…and they no doubt acted much different. Her mind drifted back to a…darker moment, one of a bloodstained street and a young woman lost in her own hatred. She shook her head and pulled her hand away from the picture.

"Not the time to reminisce," she sighed. _Thought I hope you're all still safe._

 **XXX**

 **Five Kilometers Outside Konoha**

The trip had been uneventful so far. Team Kakashi had covered five kilometers in the last three hours, meaning it would be another two hours until they reached the port where Tsunami said there was a boat ready to carry them across the channel between Nami no Kuni and Hi no Kuni. As of right now, they were in a protective ring formation around Tsunami. Kakashi, Hibiki, Hikari, and Sakura made up the interior of the ring while Naruto, Sasuke, Musubi, Benitsubasa, and Haihane, spread out and covered the front. However, the walk had not been a silent one.

"Honestly, why is everyone else so lucky?!" Benitsubasa moaned, glaring at Musubi's chest before looking to the Lightning Twins with an expression of pure jealously.

"Aw, cheer up flat-chest," Haihane snickered.

"Grrrr!"

Naruto had to bite back a chuckle as he watched the pink-haired Sekirei chase after the catlike silverette, biting his lip as he watched Sasuke turn red with embarrassment as his Sekirei began to wrestle in the middle of the road, trying to move in to stop them but getting sucked into the brawl as Benitsubasa and Haihane tried to yank him away from each other.

"Naruto-sama?"

He looked over his shoulder to see Musubi behind him. "Yeah, Musubi-chan?"

"Can we join in?" she asked, pointing to the overly-comedic dust cloud that was coming from the brawling Sekirei.

"Uh…," he paused, watching as Benitsubasa flipped Haihane over her shoulder, causing the catlike Sekirei to land with her legs straddling Sasuke's face. "I think we should just let them do their thing. Don't worry though, we can spar later."

"Okay~" she chirped.

Kakashi chuckled as he watched his students. Being an Ashikabi wasn't easy, even for an adult. He remembered when he had met Hibiki and Hikari taking shelter in the training ground closest to the memorial stone, absolutely filthy and soaked to the bone from the recent storm. After winging them (more like they forced themselves on him), he brought them home and got them a bath and something to eat (which cost him the equivalent of an S-rank mission's pay) his life got a lot more hectic.

 _But it's not so bad,_ he thought with a perverted giggle, looking at the two busty women walking a few steps ahead of him.

"Um, Kakashi-san?" he looked to see Tsunami looking at him. "Do all Konoha shinobi…dress like that?"

He cocked his head and realized she was referring to the Twins and the other Sekirei his team had. Granted, his girl's taste in clothing was…he didn't want to say sexual, but it really was. Musubi's clothing was also a bit strange, not to mention Haihane's bandages and ripped kimono did stand out compared to the rest of their clothes.

"No, Tsunami-san," he chuckled. "Those four have their own tastes. But Shinobi can be eccentric."

His mind immediately drifted to a man in a green jumpsuit and he shuddered.

"Hey, Kakashi," he looked up to see Hikari looking back at him. "Get over here."

"Excuse me," he smiled with a bit of a sweatdrop. _Sometimes I wonder who's really the Ashikabi here._ "What is it?"

"Puddle, twelve o'clock," she said, jerking her head in the direction of a medium-sized patch of water in the middle of the road about thirty meters ahead of them.

"I see," he smiled, patting the older twin on her shoulder. "Nice eyes, Hikari."

"Want us to take them out?" Hibiki asked, her chakra fluctuating.

"Hmmm," he looked ahead at the puddle. "No…let's let them work this one out. It'll be a good wake-up call. If things get out of hand, let them have it."

Both twins sported sadistic smiled as they calmly separated and flanked him at either side of the road, putting a good twenty feet between them and Tsunami as they walked past the puddle. As soon as they were past, he heard the sounds of water swirling behind them.

 _Right on schedule,_ he allowed himself a smirk as he heard the clinking of a chain.

Naruto's ears perked up as he heard the sound of metal rattling and turned around in time to see two masked ninjas jumping towards Kakashi with a bladed chain connected to them by a pair of clawed gauntlets.

"Musubi!" he yelled.

"Hai!" she nodded as both of them dashed forwards at the ninja on the left. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Sasuke and Haihane moving at top speed at the other one.

"One little pig-OOOF!" one of the ninjas began as Musubi blurred forwards and slammed her fist into his gut. Naruto jumped over her shoulders quickly, spinning a roundhouse kick into his temple to send him off to dreamland.

"Meizu!" the other ninja exclaimed before he realized he was under attack. Sasuke and Haihane worked in tandem, slashing and kicking to force him away from Kakashi and Tsunami. Sasuke suddenly palmed a kunai and hurled it at the chain connected to his gauntlet. The tip of the blade lodged itself in a chink in the chain's links, pinning it to the ground.

"Brats!" the ninja growled out from under his mask. The chain detached from his gauntlet and he lunged forwards at Sasuke faster than he had been moving before. The Last Uchiha's eyes widened as the claws neared his face, the tips of them dripping with a transparent liquid.

Faster than he could process, Haihane dove in and tackled him sideways as the gauntlet came down. A shudder ran through her body as the tips ripped through her bandages across her back. She winced, but didn't cry out, holding her body over Sasuke to protect him.

"Why…?" he asked, feeling her blood drip down onto his hands. "Why did you do that?"

"Because I care about you," she said in her usual bored tone, her eyes looking straight into his soul.

Naruto saw Sasuke go down and turned to help defend his teammate when the twins decided to make their entrance. Two pink and purple blurs jumped over to the enemy nin, lightning sparking wildly around their fists as they slammed them both into his stomach. The masked nin screamed like a little girl as fifty thousand volts coursed through his body before he collapsed on the road, twitching as steam rose from his body.

"Well now," Kakashi nodded, hands in his pockets as he surveyed the scene. "Naruto…your reaction time was excellent, as was your joint attack with Musubi. I can see training with her has made a difference in your taijutsu."

The blonde grinned as Musubi hugged him.

"Sasuke," he turned to the last Uchiha, who was unpacking some medical supplies from his backpack to help Haihane. "Your speed and taijutsu were flawless, much better than most other genin that I have seen. Your reaction time to that last attack was off, and that got the better of you. Once you awaken your eyes, you'll be able to counter speed attacks."

"Whatever," he muttered, wiping Haihane's scratches as Benitsubasa scanned the trees for more threats.

"However, you both forget the most important part of being a hired shinobi," he said, jerking his thumb back towards Tsunami. "You left your client unguarded. Only one of you managed to realize that in time."

He looked back and flashed an eyesmile/thumbs-up. "Nice work, Sakura."

"Heh, thanks sensei," the pinkette grinned smugly as she relaxed her stance from over by Tsunami's right side.

"But other than that, I have to say you all did well," he smiled under his mask as the twins dragged the two unconscious shinobi against a tree and tied them up with their own chain. "Now…why on earth would two C-rank missing nins from Kiri be targeting you, Tsunami-san?"

The young woman swallowed as all eyes turned to her.


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter 6:

 **Hey there, folks! MickDunD reporting for duty with chapter six of Ashikabi of the Leaf! Okay, so my job is in full swing now, and I love it, just LOVE it so much! I won't have as much time to write as I normally do thanks to my hours and the commute to the job site, but rest assured, I will continue.**

 **Thanks so much to all the wonderful people who hit that review button. You guys are the best!**

 **Also, big shout-out to Chidori Eiso for his help with the beta. Be sure to check out his story** ** _Thunder Maidens,_** **for more Naruto and Sekirei action!**

 **All Hail the Secretary!**

"Such a nice day."

The speaker sighed and laid her head back against the cool surface of the rock she was laying on. She was glad she had stumbled across this location, even if she had been drunk out of her mind when she did it. It was a rocky crag overlooking a river valley in Red Bean Jam Country. It was a picturesque landscape, with a large river and flowery fields decorating the riverbanks.

"It's even better with sake," she smiled, taking a sip from the twenty-four-ounce bottle of hard liquor sitting next to her. "Fwah~…man, that's good."

A smile decorated her lips as the warmth of the booze traveled through her system, the heat from the sun helping to spread the tingle through her body. Her short purple Chinese dress billowed slightly in the breeze, her long purple-black hair doing the same. She didn't wear any kind of headband or other kind of identification device save for a purple strip of cloth tied with a bead bearing the kanji for 'wind' around her right ankle. Some might say that she had the body of a goddess. She was _very_ well endowed, her bust rivaling Tsunade of the Sannin, and was fairly tall as well even without her heels. She had fair skin without so much as a hint of a blemish on her body and coal colored eyes. Many men had tried their hand at courting her once she had left the village, but none of them met up to her expectations.

 _Speak of the devil,_ she thought as she heard wheezing coming up the hill behind her.

"My…dearest…Kazehana," gasped a short pudgy middle-aged man dressed in fine clothing. "I…the daring…Prince Sondaina of Red Bean Jam Country…have returned to…prove my…love for you."

"Yeah…no," she said without even looking at him. "I already told you the last eight times…. you're not my type."

"But I have climbed this cliff all by myself as a declaration of my love!" the prince said, wiping his sweaty brow with an equally sweaty hand.

"It's not that hard to do," she sighed. "Now get lost…you're ruining my morning buzz."

"B-b-but…"

She raised her hand and gathered wind chakra around it. "Last chance," she said.

"Oh? Shall we duel for your hand in marriage?" he said, clumsily drawing a short sword from his back. "I'll have you know that I'm no slouch when it comes to-"

 **"** **Flower Banquet!"**

A compressed shot of wind, mixed with a few cherry blossom petals, blasted from her hand and slammed directly the fat man's gut, blasting him off the cliff and down into the river below with a piggish squeal. Kazehana sighed and took another long swig from her bottle, only to realize it was empty.

"Awww," she pouted, scratching her head as she looked at the bottle. "Where'd it all go? Oh…right."

She giggled to herself as the just laid back and looked up at the clouds, remembering her childhood moments spent doing the exact same thing. Memories of whole afternoons spent in Konoha's parks and on the roof of Maison Izumo just watching the clouds float by passed in front of her mind's eye. She sighed and closed her eyes at the memory. It had been a long time since she had seen Miya after all…over fifteen years of her wandering around the Elemental Nations, tasting the finest food and sake money could by…and she could steal. Maybe she should go pay her old teacher a visit? It wasn't like she had left on bad terms like Karasuba and Mutsu. She'd only needed some time to think about things after Minato and Kushina died.

 _Has it been long enough?_ She thought, wishing that she had more sake to help her think on the problem.

A splashing sound from the bottom of the cliff got her attention as she saw the soggy form of Prince Sondaina climbing out of the river and heading back up the cliff. She grimaced and stood up, dusting off her dress and feeling the wind.

 _I need to lay low for a bit anyway,_ she thought, pushing her chakra towards her feet as a small hurricane gathered around her, pushing her through the air south towards Hi no Kuni.

 **XXX**

 **Coast of Hi no Kuni**

"So now you know everything," Tsunami said, her head bowed low to the ground. "Please...I know I had to lie to you, but I had no other choice. Please help save us."

Kakashi had to hold back the urge to face-palm. It turned out that this simple C-rank mission was in truth at least a high B-rank. Nami no Kuni was currently in the grip of a tyrannical crime lord known as Gato of the Gato Shipping Corporation, who was trying to take over the country to use as his personal base of operations for all his illegitimate business ventures. He had crushed Nami's economy and hired thugs to intimidate the citizens into submission. Nami had no Daimyo or governing body outside the local governor, so it has been easy to do this without any kind of repercussions. However, Tsunami's father, Tazuna, had seen fit to begin construction of a bridge that would connect Nami to Hi no Kuni, and allow for a second trade route to be opened and thus alleviate the economic crisis. The problem was that Gato was trying his best to stop him. Tsunami had told them that she had almost been kidnapped once before by a group of thugs in Tanzaku Town, where she had gone to take a loan out to pay for the construction materials Tazuna needed for the bridge. Thankfully, her pursuers had been easily outwitted and she had decided to hire shinobi instead.

"Tsunami-san, you have to realize that this mission is not something my team is qualified to handle," he started before Naruto jumped out in front of him.

"Don't worry about it!" the blonde grinned, flashing a thumbs up. "We'll totally take care of it."

"Hmph," Sasuke stepped forwards with a confident expression. "The idiot's right. Besides, we wanted a more difficult mission anyway."

"We'll take care of you, Tsunami-san," Sakura said with a kind smile.

"And if things go wrong, we've got Kakashi-sensei and the S&M Twins to back us up," Naruto finished.

"What did you call us, you blonde bastard?!" Hikari roared, turning bright red at the name.

"Nee-chan, not now," Hibiki said, trying to hold her sister back from electrocuting their Ashikabi's student.

Kakashi mentally groaned as he watched Naruto and Sasuke's Sekirei begin cheering as well. He knew if he ordered them back to Konoha now he'd never hear the end of it from any of them. Plus, it would look bad if he just abandoned the mission.

"I guess we have no choice," he sweatdropped. "Lead on, Tsunami-san."

"Thank you!" the woman said, tears of happiness running down her face as she bowed again. "I swear; I'll find some way to repay your kindness!"

Naruto just laughed as he and Musubi took point, walking down the road towards the coast, Sasuke and Sakura bringing up the rear as they guarded Tsunami.

"You know this is a bad idea, right?" Hibiki asked, walking close to his side. "If those two chunin failed to take down Tsunami, Gato will send jonin to finish the job."

He chuckled and put his arm around the younger twin's shoulder. "I know," he said. "With my rotten luck, it'll probably be a high-ranking jonin."

"So why didn't you turn back?" Hikari asked.

 _Because I swore I would never be worse than scum,_ he thought, thinking of a black haired boy crushed under a boulder and a girl with purple face tattoos impaled on his own forearm.

"Kakashi?"

"Sorry," he said. "I was just thinking of how tough this mission will be to explain to Hokage-sama."

"Liar," Hikari scoffed. "We always know when you're fibbing, Kakashi."

"I know," he smiled, pulling his mask down to his chin before pressing his lips to theirs in quick succession before replacing it over his face. "I think you two will need that for what's to come."

His Sekirei nodded, both of them flushed red from the influx of chakra he had given them as they walked after their Ashikabi.

 **XXX**

 **Nami no Kuni**

Empty gray eyes stared up at the sky as the fog washed over the land. The mist clung to her clothes and skin, droplets of moisture dripping off her short light brown hair. Most people in this situation would have been freezing thanks to the breeze and the cold water, but to her cold was not anything to be concerned with.

She blinked as she felt a blanket being draped around her shoulders, looking back over to see a young woman with long raven-colored hair and chocolate eyes smiling down at her.

"You looked sad," she said.

"Ah…yes," she said, looking back up at the sky.

"Are you still thinking about what happened to you?"

She nodded.

"I see," the woman said, sitting down next to her. "Does it still hurt?"

"Ah…no," she said, feeling a tingle in her forehead. "There is no pain."

"That's good," the woman smiled.

Silence fell over them as they stared at the mist. The woman decided to speak up again a few moments later.

"Zabuza-sama is going to finish the job with the bridge builder's daughter," she said. "Taki-sama and I will be accompanying him as backup."

"Ah…will you be gone long?"

"No," she smiled. "If everything goes according to plan, we should return tonight."

"Ah…good."

"Akitsu," the woman said. "You're thinking about him, aren't you? Your Ashikabi."

"I am broken," Akitsu said without a hint of emotion in her voice. "I can never have an Ashikabi…Haku-san."

Haku sighed and stood up. "You can still have someone precious to call your Ashikabi, Akitsu," she said.

"Ah…but they said I would never have one," she said, her eyes misting slightly. "No one…wants a scrapped number. I will never have the same happiness as you…Haku-san."

Haku pursed her lips but said nothing more on that topic. "I brought you enough food to last three days," she said. "Just in case Zabuza-sama runs into trouble."

"Ah…thank you."

 **XXX**

 **Two Hours Later**

 **Nami no Kuni**

"Uh…Naruto-sama?"

"Yeah, Musubi?" the blonde asked.

"Musubi's hungry," his Sekirei said with a cute pout as her stomach growled.

"Eh? But we just ate a few hours ago!" he exclaimed, remembering that they had stopped for a snack…in which Musubi had eaten enough sandwiches to make an Akimichi proud. Something like that would have kept a normal person going strong for at least another five hours.

"I know~," she said as her stomach growled again.

"Alright," he sighed, digging through the food Miya had packed for him. "Ah, here we go. Will this do?"

"Ah! Thank you!" she cheered, taking the bag of beef jerky from his hand before hugging him.

"Can you be a little more serious her, Number 88?" Benitsubasa snapped. "We _are_ on a mission here!"

"Actually, I'm kinda hungry too," Haihane said. "Hey, Whiskers, you got any more of that stuff?"

"Uh, lemme see," he said, looking through the food. "Um…that was the last of the jerky, but there's some barbeque chips."

"Great," the Blue Sekirei smiled as Naruto tossed her the food. "Sasuke, you want one?"

"Hn," the last Uchiha didn't say anything more as Haihane opened the bag and let him take a chip.

"Ah, screw it, give me some to!" Benitsubasa finally snapped and grabbed a handful of chips.

"Hehehe, maybe the carbs will help your breasts grow?" Haihane chuckled as a massive tic mark formed on Benitsubasa's forehead.

"Sakura, Kakashi-sensei, Tsunami-san, do you want some food?" he asked, pulling out a few apples and bottles of water.

"We're good," Kakashi nodded. "Sakura has her own food, Naruto. While it is a nice gesture, remember that you need to eat too."

"Yeah, thanks though, Naruto," Sakura said, pulling out a banana from her backpack.

"Gah, stupid animal!"

They all blinked and looked ahead to see Benitsubasa was throttling a white rabbit. "I'll teach you to eat my food!" she yelled as Musubi ran up to her and snatched the animal from her. "Eh? Give that thing back, mega boobs!"

"No!" the brunette had an uncharacteristic scowl on her face. "Don't hurt it."

"But it ate my food!"

"So? Eat something else!"

"Do you have any idea what principle is?"

"Is it delicious?"

"Wha-NO, you idiot!"

"Oi, Sasuke," Naruto deadpanned. "They're…kinda weird right?"

"Hn…yeah," Sasuke replied with a similar expression. "It looks like that rabbit is still gonna die though. Musubi's crushing it."

A whistling sound hit their ears as they looked up towards the trees in time to see a six-foot-long spinning piece of metal hurtling towards them. Eyes wide, Naruto lunged forwards and tackled Musubi to the ground as the sword crashed into the dirt where he had been standing a moment ago. A crackling sound filled the air as the Twins blurred into action.

 **"** **Spider Web!"**

A net of electricity spread out from their hands, forming a protective cage over Tsunami as a person dashed from the trees and landed on top of the blade, feet balanced perfectly on the hilt in a crouched position.

"Well, well, well," the enemy nin chuckled in a gravelly voice. "And here I thought this would be easy."

Naruto gulped as he looked up at the man perched on the sword. He was tall and muscular, with short spiky black hair. His face was wrapped in bandages from the nose down to his collarbone and his headband was pushed up slightly over the left half of his forehead. He was shirtless, with a large belt strapped across his chest and a pair of baggy blue striped pants on his legs. Mist-style camouflage forearm and shin guards covered his arms and legs.

"Zabuza Momochi," Kakashi scowled as he stepped forwards. "A-class missing nin from Kiri…wanted for attempted assassination of the Mizukage. What are you doing out here?"

"Hm? So even the famed Kakashi of the Sharingan knows my name," the man smiled under his bandages. "I have to say, I'm flattered. As for what I'm doing, it's just a job. Hand over the woman, and I'll be on my way."

"I'm afraid I can't do that," Kakashi said, glancing over where his Sekirei were fueling the lightning cage around Tsunami. _Dammit…I can't rely on them now or he'll go for Tsunami-san. Looks like I'm on my own here._

"Too bad," Zabuza smiled before his body blurred.

"Watch out!" Naruto yelled as the assassin reappeared over by Hibiki, blade extended to cut her down.

 **"** **Raiton: Sandaboruto!"**

A lance of electricity slammed into the ground in front of Zabuza, forcing him to jump backwards away from the twins.

"Heh, so you've already gotten serious," Zabuza chuckled. "And here I thought we could have some fun for a bit."

"No Zabuza," Kakashi said, pulling up his headband and revealing a crimson eye with three black tomoe surrounding the pupil. " _This_ is me getting serious."

"The famed Sharingan eye," Zabuza grinned, placing his sword on his back and flexing his wrists. "Alright then…since you pulled out your trump card, I'll show you mine. **Ninpo: Kirigakure no Jutsu!"**

A thick fog began to blanket the area, lowering visibility dramatically.

"Everyone, protective formation!" Kakashi yelled. "Keep Hibiki and Hikari safe! Zabuza is a master of the silent kill, so he'll go for your blind spots first!"

"Heheheh, sharp, Kakashi," Zabuza's disembodied voice echoed through the mist. "But still…how will you stop _this!_ "

The mist thinned ever so slightly.

"Naruto-sama, watch out!" Musubi yelled as he turned and watched as Zabuza's massive sword descended towards his neck.

The busty shrine maiden jumped forwards the assassin, her fist swirling with purple-pink chakra.

 **"** **Kuma Ken!"**

The blow made a hard impact on Zabuza's form…only for the image to burst into a cloud of mist.

"Eh? Did I get him?"

"Impressive strength," the missing nin commented, stepped out of the fog a few yards away. "But that lack of tactical thinking will get you killed, girl. You… _and_ your Ashikabi."

"Wha? How does he know about that?" Naruto barked. "I thought the Sekirei were only in Konoha!"

A bell-like giggle echoed from the mist as a second set of footsteps approached them. "As expected, you Konoha nin are pretty stupid to think that."

The newcomer was a young woman with bluish-silver hair that reached down her back. She wore a long overcoat that was unbuttoned in the front and a pair of light gray shorts over her legs. Strapped to both her thighs were kunai holsters.

"Number 65, Taki," the woman smiled sadistically. "I'll be taking care of you today."

"Taki, keep the brats occupied," Zabuza said. "Kakashi's mine."

"Yes, master," the woman giggled before vanishing in a swirl of fog.

Naruto grit his teeth in frustration, pressing his back to Musubi's as Sasuke and Sakura did the same.

 _Stupid mist!_ He growled. _I can't see anything with this stuff in the way!_

"Here I come~" the enemy Sekirei said in a singsong manner. A second later, the sound of cold steel slicing flesh rang out across the misty clearing.

"Agh!"

"Sakura!"

"Dammit," the pink-haired kunoichi cursed as she looked over the long scratch on her left forearm. "I'm fine! It's just a scratch."

"It's just a scratch for now," Taki laughed in the mist. "Brats like you have no chance of beating my master and I. Just give up and hand over the woman and I'll let you all live."

"Never!" Naruto yelled out. "We promised to finish our mission and we'll do it no matter what! I'll never go back on my word!"

"Yeah, what blondie said!" Benitsubasa yelled.

"We'll protect Sasuke," Haihane said with her usual bored tone, but a dangerous glint in her eyes.

"We're Konoha shinobi," Sasuke said with a confident smirk as his Sekirei formed a protective countermeasure around him. "We aren't known for cowardice."

"I won't let anything happen to my friends," Sakura said, grabbing her arm to staunch the bleeding. "I may not be as strong as them…but I'm not useless anymore!"

"Heh…I guess you're not."

They all blinked at the new voice. It was masculine…not as deep as Zabuza's, but it was deeper than Kakashi's. Heavy footsteps echoed off the road as tall man walked into view. He had ash blonde hair that went down to his neck and gray eyes. He wore a black uniform shirt with long sleeves and an X shape crossing over his torso, fingerless gloves sitting on his hands. His pants were black as well, with an ornate decorative belt around his waist. A straight katana was gripped in his right hand and an orange scarf was tied around his neck.

"Eh? Who the heck are you, 'ttebayo?"

"A friend," the man answered with a neutral expression on his face as he turned and looked down at Sakura.

"You…" she breathed out. "You're here."

"I told you we would meet soon," he said. "I guess I was wrong. You aren't useless."

"Huh?" she asked as he gently pressed his lips to hers. A heavy wave of chakra rolled through the atmosphere, making his bones tremble as a Sekirei crest flared into existence behind him. Sakura gasped out and collapsed to her knees, almost all of her chakra drained from the kiss.

"Number 05…Mutsu, is yours," he said, standing in front of her and placing his blade in the ground as he glared at Taki, flaring an impressive amount of killing intent. "I don't like fighting…but if you harm my Ashikabi…I'll end you."

"Wha…what's happening?" Sakura panted out as she struggled to get to her feet. "Who…are you?"

"Just take it easy, Sakura," Naruto smiled at her before looking at Mutsu. "Keep her safe, will ya?"

The ashen haired Sekirei just nodded before returning his gaze to Taki.

"Tch! I don't need to beat you anyway!" the silverette growled out. "If I can take out the genin, that Kakashi guy will order those bondage freaks to drop their cage!"

"WHAT DID YOU CALL US!?" Hikari yelled out from inside the mist a few feet away.

"We do really need new clothes," Hibiki sighed.

Naturally, everyone ignored them.

Naruto and Musubi dropped into taijutsu stances as Sasuke began molding his chakra. Taki smirked and made a ram seal.

 **"** **Ninpo: Kiri Bunshin!"**

The mist thickened for a moment before swirling into twenty different copies of Taki, each drawing a kunai.

"This is my secret technique!" she laughed. "These clones are solid, meaning they can hurt you, but if you dispel them, they add to Zabuza-sama's mist!"

"So what?" Naruto smirked, making his own seal. "You're not the only one with special clones! **Taiju Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!** "

Thirty clones poofed into existence, each bearing a smart-aleck grin. The Taki clones blinked as the swarm of Narutos dashed forwards. The Mist Clones tried to scatter, but they were easily encircled. Naruto then flared his chakra.

"Katsu!"

The ring of clones glowed bright before exploding in a brilliant fireball. The Kiri Bunshin all popped, each one turning into a thick cloud of mist that swirled around the battlefield.

"Useless!" Taki laughed. "It dosen't matter how many times you destroy my clones; I can just make more with this mist!"

"Then let's fix that, huh?" Naruto grinned, attaching Matsu's Chakra Absorption Seal to a kunai and hurling it at the mist cloud.

Right away, the sealing characters on the tag lit up and began to draw the mist into the seal. The thickness of the mist dropped rapidly, allowing him to get a clear view of the others. As soon as Sasuke saw them, he and Haihane dashed forwards.

 **"** **Shokei no Tsume!"** Haihane grinned, slashing the Mist Sekirei across her lower back as Sasuke jumped off her shoulder and dropped an ax-kick to the top of her head. Taki's eyes rolled back into her head and she collapsed on the ground.

"Sasuke!" he called, tossing the first of his two paralysis tags to the Last Uchiha. "Put that on her so she can't wake up."

"Hn," Sasuke nodded and slapped the tag onto Taki's back.

He let out a deep breath, realizing how much chakra he had spent creating those exploding clones. He'd overloaded them with chakra so the blast would be able to evenly trap Taki's mist cloud into circle, so the tag would be able to absorb all of it. However, it had drained about half of his reserves since exploding clones already took twice the amount of chakra as regular shadow clones.

"Naruto-sama, here," Musubi smiled, easily swinging him onto her back like he weighed nothing. "Musubi will carry you until you get your strength back.

"Mmm…thanks," he breathed out, feeling his Sekirei's warmth wash over him.

A loud crash from his right got all their attention as Zabuza flew backwards across the pond like a skipping stone, crashing into a tree with enough force to splinter the bark.

"Agh….," the Kiri nin grunted out as Kakashi shunshined over to him, kunai drawn. "That…damn eye."

"It's over, Zabuza," Kakashi said, kneeling down to slash the missing nin's jugular. Before he could make the kill, though, two senbon needles whizzed from behind his head and struck Zabuza in the neck. The missing nin's eyes shot open as he gave a weak death rattle and slumped over.

"You were right," he turned around to see a young Kiri hunter-nin sitting on a branch behind him. "It is over."

The hunter jumped down and collected Zabuza's body before jumping over to the swordsman's fallen Sekirei. "I must thank you, Konoha shinobi," the person said. "These two have caused much trouble since they went rouge. I will see that Mizukage-sama sends your team the bounty for dealing with Zabuza. Farewell."

And with that, they all vanished in a shunshin. He scowled, knowing there was something wrong with the scenario, but the fight had tired him out to the point where he was struggling to remain standing. Two sets of hands suddenly grabbed him under his shoulders as he began to slump, causing his face to press against two sets of firm breasts.

"Easy," Hibiki said, helping him stand. "We got you, Kakashi."

"Thanks," he smiled. "Now…let's find a place to rest."


End file.
